The Protector
by McKennaBlack
Summary: Imprinting is supposed to be the easiest and greatest experience to a wolf. When Embry imprints on Abby he finds there are heartbreaking obstacles to overcome. Story takes place after Power of an Imprint
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my new story. I hope you enjoy it. This story takes place AFTER my other story **_**Power of an Imprint**_**. If you have not read that one, some of this story, **_**The Protector, **_**may be confusing and spoil some of the events from **_**Power of an Imprint**_**. So I suggest you read **_**Power of an Imprint**_** first. **

**For those of you who miss Tala, she pops right up within the first 200 words!**

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to say that the Twilight world belongs to S. Meyer? Really?**

_Burrrriing!_

_Burrrriing!_

"Collin! Can you get the phone? I'm elbow deep in grease!" I hollered from underneath a ten-year old Escort. The shop was dead that afternoon, so I sent everyone but Collin home to help close up the shop.

_Burrrriing!_

"Damn it! Collin?" I quickly dragged my grimy ass out from my hole and rushed towards the phone. I scanned the room and caught a glimpse of Collin outside talking to his recent imprint Ashley. Well, they weren't actually talking since their mouths seemed to be fused together. Oh, the joys of imprinting! You find your mate for life and some couples can't keep their hands off each other. No wonder he didn't hear me or the phone. I was happy for the kid, but man, we're at work!

I let out a growl before I picked up the phone. "Oceanfront Auto, this is Embry," I grunted.

"What got my favorite cousin all pissy?" My cousin Tala asked from the other end of the line.

I grunted again, "Collin and Ashley are suckin' face behind the shop so I had to crawl out from under a car to answer the phone. What do you want?"

"Dang, can't I just call and say hello? What makes you think I want something?"

"Well, your hubby Seth is out patrolling so you didn't call for him and you called me your favorite cousin. You only say that when you want something from me," I chuckled. Tala always seemed to get me out of my grumpy moods.

"Oh you know me so well. Do you think you could _please_ pick up Vanessa from daycare?" Tala pleaded. "Seth will be out awhile with Quil and I'm going with Leah to look at bridesmaids dresses. Leah sprung it on us an hour ago because she found a shop in Port Angeles that carried the one she wants us to wear."

Leah decided to stop phasing into a wolf in order to get married and move to Seattle with her soon-to-be husband, Allen. Allen was a decent guy. If you ask me he's sort of a goofball, but you can tell he'd do anything for Leah. I'll admit it, I was a little jealous. I've always had a thing for Leah and I thought she liked me too. We've hooked up on more than one occasion, but we never went any further with our relationship. We both knew what would happen if we did. If I ever imprinted I wouldn't ever forgive myself for hurting Leah. I don't think she could live through that again since Sam did it to her the first time.

"What about Claire?" I asked Tala who waited for an answer.

Claire was one of the only teenagers in town that the pack trusted with their children. Since she just turned 16 years old and had her own car, she was the go-to girl. It also helped that she was Quil's imprint. You never had to worry about a boy invading your house while she was watching your kids because she didn't date and was obviously head-over-heels for Quil.

"Claire's going with us. She's in the wedding too, you know."

I let out a sigh. "Alright. I'll go get her."

"Good, 'cause I already called the center and told them you were coming," Tala practically sang. "So, pick her up any time, but before 6p.m. Seth shouldn't be too late. Thanks Embry!"

"Yep." I replied and hung up.

To be honest, I adored Vanessa. She was smart and adorable with her huge puppy-dog eyes that pretty much got me to do anything she wanted. Spending a little time with her this afternoon would hopefully get me out of my bad mood.

The owner of the Escort dropped off the car first thing that morning with all sorts of demands for the old piece of shit. The car belonged to the guy's wife. It broke down as soon as they moved to Forks last month and he wanted it fixed right away, because he said, and I quote, "I'm sick of taking the bitch to work." Nice, right?

The douche-bag shouldn't even allow his wife to drive the car. It wasn't safe, even if I could fix it. I told him by the time I got done with it he may as well buy her a decent used car. Apparently to the asshole, this was the car he found for her because, and again I quote, "she kept whining about having to walk to work," and "I told her she's driving it until it's totally dead," and "if she wants to keep her job, she's gonna either walk to work or drive this car." Mr. America ladies and gentleman. And the kicker, he flirted with Kim when she was got his paperwork around for him. I felt sorry for his wife. Men that disrespected their wives like that really annoyed me.

If I had a wife I would worship her. I don't mean to sound like a wuss, but I haven't even been on a date in years. I was so afraid of asking someone out, getting close to her, and then BAM, end up imprinting on someone else, and so I gave it up entirely. Imprinting meant being bound to someone for life. It was the greatest feeling in the world, so they say, so I've felt second-hand through the pack mind, so it wasn't worth it to destroy the heart of another. I've also felt _that_ heartache second-hand through the pack and it sucks. I've felt the pain it causes to all parties involved. I couldn't do that to someone. I couldn't do that to myself.

So, here I am, single, and yes, lonely. This imprinting thing was suppose to be rare, but about ninety percent of the pack had a significant other. It's been about fifteen years since our generation started to phase into a wolves. I was one of the first and I still haven't imprinted.

I spent another hour or so on the Escort before I decided to give up for the day. I would much rather hang out with a four-year-old than work on the hunk of junk.

********

When I pulled into the parking lot to the daycare center I could spot Vanessa's bright pink jacket playing in the fenced-in yard. As I walked up to the fence she spotted me instantly.

"Uncle Embry!!" she screamed as she ran over to me.

"Hey V-Bee!" I replied as she jumped into my arms. "Ready to go home?"

"You pickin' me up today?" she asked with huge smile. I nodded my head with exaggeration.

"Yay!!" Vanessa squirmed out of my arms to run to her teacher. "Miss Abby! Miss Abby! Uncle Embry is taking me home today!"

When my vision followed Vanessa's trail to her teacher I felt my body freeze and the air in my lungs escape in a rush. The woman Vanessa was running towards seemed to be the only person in my sight. Everything else, every_one_ else around her seemed to be blurry. It was like I had tunnel vision for only her. This woman had the most beautiful, straight, shiny caramel-colored hair that stopped at her shoulders. Her skin was flawless. Her round cheeks made her look so young and innocent. I couldn't take my eyes off her. I'm not sure how, but I had crossed the yard and now stood in front of her. She had a wonderful scent. It was like vanilla and cinnamon. I loved vanilla and cinnamon.

Once she finished talking to Vanessa the woman looked up to address me. She was in the middle of saying something to me when her eyes met mine. I could see her lips moving, but I didn't hear anything she said. I just stared into her beautiful hazel eyes. I finally noticed she had stopped talking and she was giving me a look like she was expecting an answer.

"Huh?" I grunted. _Smooth Embry._

"You're Vanessa's Uncle Embry?" the beautiful woman asked me.

"Yes. Um, no," I stuttered. "I mean, I'm Embry, but I'm not her uncle. She just calls me that. I'm actually her cousin."

I heard a small giggle come out of the four-year-old standing next to me. I quickly looked down at Vanessa to see what she was giggling about.

Vanessa gave me a big grin and said, "You look like Daddy and Uncle Sam." _Huh? Little girls are strange._

"Can I see some ID, please," the woman asked me. "Mrs. Clearwater called to tell me you were coming, but I need to verify who you are."

"Oh yeah, sure." I reached in my pocket for my wallet and pulled out my driver's license. As I handed it to the woman I glanced at Vanessa again. She had grabbed my hand and was still giggling. I couldn't help but smile back at her.

The woman quickly glanced at my ID and handed it back to me with a brilliant smile on her face.

"I'm Abigail, Vanessa's pre-school teacher," she introduced herself and extended her hand to me.

Once I grabbed Abigail's hand I knew I was a goner. All the feelings I felt by just looking at her intensified once our hands touched. A shock of energy shot up my arm and coursed through my body. Abigail's eyes snapped up to mine and small lovely smile crept across her face and her eyes seemed to sparkle. I felt my face mimic hers. _Holy shit, I think I just imprinted._

The expression on her face changed to what looked like remorse and fear and she abruptly let go of my hand.

"Vanessa honey, I'll see you tomorrow. Embry, it was nice meeting you," Abigail quietly said as she walked away. She gave me two more quick glances before she quickened her pace.

"Wait," I yelled towards her, but she kept walking towards a group of kids on the swings. I wanted to stop her, to talk to her more, but Vanessa was pulling me towards the car. All I could do was watch Abigail walk away from me. My first instinct was to run after her, but I needed to take care of Vanessa first.

"Come on Uncle Embry, can we get some ice cream?" Vanessa begged.

On our way to get ice cream Vanessa started to giggle again. Poor girl. I was lost in thought and I was pretty much ignoring her.

"Why are you so giggly?" I asked her.

"You look like Daddy and Uncle Sam," she repeated her words from earlier.

"What do you mean?" she made me laugh with her giggles.

"Daddy looks at mommy like that and Uncle Sam looks at Aunt Emily like that." Oh man, this kid was observant.

"Like what?"

I looked back at Vanessa through the rear-view window and her face looked angelic as she tried to imitate the "dazed and confused" look that the whole wolf-pack was familiar with. There wasn't anything I could do but laugh at the goofy little girl.

"Hey, stop teasing me or I'm not getting you any ice cream, stinker."

We stopped by the gift shop where my mom, Elizabeth and my Aunt Anna were working. Vanessa and I were guaranteed free ice cream from her Grandma Anna and her Great-Aunt Elizabeth.

"Grandma!" Vanessa screamed at Aunt Anna when she ran in the door.

"Hey sweet baby! What are you doing here?" Vanessa started a conversation with her Grandma and told her about her day while my Mom started scooping out our favorite ice cream.

After she handed me my cone I decided to get the scoop on Miss Abigail.

"Hey mom, do you know anything about Vanessa's teacher, Miss Abby?" My mom knew a lot about the local gossip since she worked in one of two gift shops and general store on the entire rez.

"Oh yeah, she and her husband moved here a couple of months ago…" I didn't hear a word she said after that sentence. Abigail was married? What the hell? How could I imprint on someone who was married? Maybe I was mistaken. Maybe what I was feeling was the usual crush-type of thing. Abigail was very pretty and had a breathtaking smile. I could see how she may have many admirers. I've always been scared to have a crush on anyone for fear of getting serious so it's been awhile since I looked at a woman in that way.

It couldn't have been a mistake. There was the tunnel vision, the electricity when we touched, the chest aching from the separation when she walked away from me.

"Embry, honey, what's wrong?" my mom finally snapped me out of my thoughts.

"What? Oh, uh, nothing," I replied lamely.

"I'm pretty sure you didn't hear a word I've said. You look pale and you haven't touched your ice cream…and it's our favorite," my mom said with concern. "Do you want us to watch Vanessa until Seth and Tala get home?"

"Nooooo…I want Embry to come over and play with me," Vanessa whined from her perch with a chocolate ice cream goatee coating her face.

"Thanks mom, but I'll be fine. She'll be a good distraction this afternoon." As much as I wanted to run out to phase and talk to someone about this, I did feel I needed to think things through before I had a bunch of minds merged into mine.

*******

About an hour later Vanessa and I were hanging upside down on the couch watching SpongeBob Squarepants. Our feet were in the air and our heads were towards the floor.

Vanessa was singing at the top of her lungs. "Three green and speckled frogs, sitting on a speckled log, eating some most delicious bugs…"

"Yum, yum!" I contributed.

"Well what do we have here," said a familiar voice peeking into the living room. Quil stood there with an amused look on his face. "For all the times you guys picked on me for playing with Claire."

"Hi Uncle Quil!!" Vanessa waved from her upside down perch. Her face was starting to get red from the blood rush.

"Shut it Quil, she's not my imprint. I can tell her no."

"That's what I'm saying. You can tell her no, but you don't." Quil walked to the couch and wedged himself between me and Vanessa. "SpongeBob? My favorite!"

Now that Quil was there I had someone to talk to about imprinting, but I didn't want to have that conversation with the over-observant girl who sat next to us.

"Hey V-Bee, do you want a drink?" I asked as I hopped off the couch walking towards the kitchen.

"Yes please!"

"Quil, could you help me out a sec?"

"You need help getting juice?"

"Just come here!!" He must've heard the urgency in my voice because he quickly popped off the couch and followed me to the kitchen.

As I poured the juice I thought about how to bring up the possible imprint. If I had made a mistake, I would feel like an idiot. If it was true, then I had another major problem. My imprint, my beautiful Abigail was married. And I couldn't have her.

"Quil, I think I imprinted today," I quickly blurt out as Quil took a drink of his juice. He choked on his drink. It would've been funny if I wasn't so distraught.

"Holy shit! It's about friggin' time. What happened?" Quil looked genuinely happy for me.

I went ahead and told him the story with all the feelings mixed in. I know guys usually don't talk about feelings with each other, but we did because we would feel it once our minds were connected as wolves. I skipped the part about finding out she was married.

"Yep, it sounds like that's what happened. But dude, you don't have the usual goofy look we all get afterwards. What's up?" Quil asked.

"She's married," I mumbled. I could see the shock cover Quil's face.

"She's married!?"

"Who's married?" Seth asked as he made his way into the kitchen.

"My imprint," I sighed and repeated the story to Seth.

"Miss Abigail? Yeah, she's married alright," Seth confirmed, "to a real douche-bag."

"You know him?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah, he's the guy that dropped off his Escort this morning. I had the pleasure of taking his phone call yesterday," Seth informed us.

"Oh shit, he's a dick! You should've heard the way he was talking about my Abigail." I didn't realize I called her "my" Abigail at first. I suddenly became possessive. I could feel the rage start to build up in my body. It had been years since I lost my control through anger. "He was calling her all sorts of names, being disrespectful and hitting on Kim!" My body started to shake.

"Whoa, Em, calm down. Maybe you should go outside and run or something," Seth suggested. "I'll call a meeting so we can all talk about this. I'll include the ladies. Maybe they'll have some insight on the whole thing."

"Yeah, whatever," I replied as I ran out the kitchen door towards the woods. I didn't feel like talking to the whole pack about this, it was quite embarrassing. Adding the ladies into the mix would be even worse. They would probably have that pity look on their faces and get all motherly with me.

The more I thought about it, the more furious I became. Why the fuck would I imprint on a married woman?! A woman who devoted her life to someone else. Even if he was a big asshole.

As soon as I hit the tree line I stripped my clothes and phased into a gigantic, gray wolf with black spots. All my emotions were flooding my brain when I heard others in my mind.

"_Hey Em, 'sup?"_ Jared asked as his mind meshed with mine. After he received the rush of my thoughts, I sensed his paws stop dead in their tracks. _"Holy shit, what happened? She's married!?"_

I heard Brady's and Paul's reaction to the events that my mind recalled. There was a little bit of pity and a lot of shock coming from their minds as well. I caught flashes of their imprints and empathy from them when they thought about not being able to be with them.

"_I don't know what the fuck happened. I don't want to talk about it right now." _I snapped back. I instantly felt bad for being a jerk. I knew everyone was genuinely concerned.

"_That's ok man." _Jared could feel my regret. "_You deserve to be a jerk after what happened today."_

"_Look, I just want to run and think. We're having a meeting later about it."_ I didn't wait for Jared to reply. I pushed my legs to their full potential and tried to block out everyone from my mind.

I loved to run. I loved the way the breeze ruffled my fur and made my eyes water. I loved how my paws pushed the earth as I dug my claws pushing my legs to go faster and faster. When I didn't have a group of guys in my head I could enjoy how my enhanced senses took in my surroundings. I'm sure they were listening in, but they knew better then to contribute to my thoughts. It didn't matter what they heard, I would be repeating everything later in our council meeting.

I'm not sure what a meeting would accomplish. I couldn't have Abigail. I finally imprint on someone and she was married. She was legally, and probably spiritually, bound to someone for life. I was sure she felt the connection when we shook hands. As soon as our skin touched her facial expression seemed to match mine. I wish I could've talked to her longer, but she ran away too quickly. She looked scared and confused. The more I thought about her, the more my chest ached from being away from her. My Abigail. I didn't know what I was going to do. I hoped someone in our pack family would have insight on the situation.

**Please let me know what you think! I'm a little nervous since I was hoping to complete the entire story before posting any of it. I was too excited so I'm not waiting any longer. I'm up to Chapter 12 so far and I'll try to keep the chapters coming on a regular basis.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome newcomers and welcome back _Power of an Imprint_ readers! I see there are a few people adding me to their alerts, but not reviewing. Please let me know what you think. I LOVE that feedback.**

* * *

Chapter 2.

By the time I made my way to Sam's house everyone else was there. I inhaled deeply and let it all out as I grabbed the door knob. As soon as I walked into the kitchen I stumbled into, what I affectionately call, the Den Mother's nest. I knew what was coming.

"Oh Embry…" Emily, Tala, Rachel, Kim and Ashley came rushing to me and all smothered me in a Den Mother's group hug.

"Oh come on girls," I whined from the middle of the mass of estrogen surrounding me. They always turned into overbearing, over protective, mother hens to those of us who haven't imprinted. As if I didn't have my own mother to deal with. "Normally this would be an ideal situation for me, being smothered in boobs and all, but I don't need the pity." I expectedly received a couple slaps in the head for the perverted comment.

As the group hug broke up Kim was the first one to speak. "We're not pitying you, we're happy for you."

"Happy? I can't have her." I scowled.

"Em, I will say that Miss Abby is one of the sweetest people I know. Vanessa loves her and I believe she's one of the favorite teachers at her daycare."

"How is this supposed to help?" I asked. I felt defeated. I didn't necessarily want to give up, but I didn't know what I needed to do to make this situation better.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I approve, not that you needed my approval. She is a great pick and a great match, but I have a theory," Tala said with a small, reassuring smile. "Come on, let's get this meeting started.

********

For the third time that day I verbally explained my story. I could feel my chest clench with an emotion I wasn't entirely familiar with. I knew I had that dazed and confused look on my face because each lady in my audience looked at me with watery eyes and goofy smiles of their own. A couple of them made swooning noises.

After I was finished talking I threw my head back with a frustrated groan. The crowded room fell quiet. It was obvious no one else knew what to do either.

Our leader, our alpha, Sam was the first to speak. "It's clear that you have imprinted. Jared, Brady and Paul confirmed it as they watched it replay in your mind earlier. We all know what happened with me and Leah. Maybe it works the other way around. Maybe Abigail will feel so strongly she'll leave him for you."

"I don't want to break up a marriage, Sam." I snapped.

"Maybe it's one that needs broken up," Seth chimed in. "Her husband's name is Craig Reece. That guy is a real piece of work. I don't know what it is that he does for a living, but he was talking down to me on the phone like I wasn't worthy of his phone call."

"What am I supposed to do, walk right up to her and say 'excuse me Mrs. Reece, you're husband's a real asshole so will you divorce him and marry me instead…a complete stranger…'cause I imprinted on you'?" My hands flew up to my face and I rubbed the palms of my hands into my eyes.

"I have a theory," my cousin Tala piped in. "It's not really the same type of thing, but it's similar. When Seth and I met I was going out with someone. Although Matt was my boyfriend my heart hadn't been into the relationship for a long time. I think that's what allowed Seth to imprint on me because I was willing to accept it."

"So what are you trying to say?" I asked. I think I knew what she was getting at. Tala was very insightful and never blurted out just any useless bullshit.

"What I'm trying to say, Embry, is I think she was willing on her end of the imprint. Maybe her heart's not into the marriage anymore. Maybe she's thinking about calling things off. From the way you guys talk about what a jerk her husband is, I wouldn't be surprised if he's that way towards her too."

A slow growl curled up from my chest. I couldn't bear to think of _him_ talking to my Abigail that way.

"Hey!" Tala said forcefully, but she grabbed my hand gently trying to calm me down. "I'm not positive he's treating her that way, but you never know. People don't usually turn that type of behavior off and on like that."

"Just don't go losing your temper around him because it's possible you think he's being a jerk towards her. You'll need to get some sort of evidence first," Seth added. "Plus, he's our customer, so you'll have to see him sooner or later."

"Maybe it would help if you got to know her," Emily chimed in while she carried a plate of snacks into the room. "It couldn't hurt to talk to her and maybe you'll find some things out that will help you feel better."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," I mumbled a reply. I would either find out she's very happy with her marriage or she was miserable. Either way, it would suck for me. He could be treating Abigail like a queen and become a big ole softy when it came to her. But I highly doubted it. At least if I knew she was happy I could leave her alone and let her live her life and we could just be friends. This Craig guy was such a big jerk that I couldn't believe Abigail was with him. I didn't know Abigail from Eve, but there's no way I would imprint on someone that I didn't connect with.

"Do you want to pick up Vanessa from daycare again tomorrow?" Tala asked with a smirk on her face.

"Maybe Abby needs a ride home!" Ashley contributed.

"Oh yeah! You _are _working on her car," Rachel spoke from the other side of the room. I noticed the guys get up from their seats and slowly make their way to the kitchen for dinner. Every one of the females inched closer to me.

_And let the meddling_ _begin._ I thought.

"Take it easy on him, would ya?" Sam whispered to Emily as he kissed her cheek and then he glanced my way with a sympathetic smirk on his face. And then, I was left alone with the Den Mothers.

********

The day crept by way too slowly. I was anxious for my visit with Abigail, however short that visit may be. I had been working on her shitty Escort all day which wasn't helping me concentrate on the task at hand. Now that I was familiar with her scent it was all I could smell. I would have my head in the engine, but a breeze would come into the garage and waft vanilla and cinnamon my way. Her aroma would dominate the grease and grime smell and drive me crazy.

As planned, I was picking up Vanessa from daycare again. I spent almost two hours during and after dinner the night before strategizing with the women of the pack. They filled me in on what Abigail may be thinking and how I should approach her without sounding creepy.

It so happened that Vanessa's birthday was Sunday. Since I was picking her up on a Friday, V-Bee could celebrate her birthday with her Pre-K class. Emily had the idea of taking cupcakes to daycare to distract the kids, giving me a chance to talk to Miss Abby without Vanessa trying to drag me out the door. Emily and Tala whipped up some cupcakes after dinner. Tala even filled out an extra birthday party invitation for Abigail. I was supposed to use it as an ice breaker. Tala and Seth didn't plan on inviting anyone other than family, but Tala thought it would be an opportune time for me to speak to Abigail again. She even filled out invitations for a couple of V-Bee's friends to make it look less suspicious.

I was still slightly uncomfortable with making a move on a married woman. I couldn't break up her marriage. I wasn't going to be that type of guy. I wouldn't let her be that kind of woman. I wasn't necessarily trying to seduce her; I just wanted to get to know her. I wanted to make sure she was alright and happy. I wanted to at least be her friend. I barely knew her and I was already feeling the anxiety of not being with her constantly.

Tala called me at the shop to let me know she informed the daycare I was picking up Vanessa. She received the 'ok' for the cupcakes as well. She told me that I should be there around 3:00 p.m. to celebrate since that was their snack time and wished me good luck. I took that as my cue to finish up for the day and clean myself up. I wasn't looking my best when I met Abigail the day before. I smelled like Fast Orange cleaner and I'm sure I had grease under my fingernails. Since I usually wait to change until I get home, I had on a greasy t-shirt with multiple holes in it. I made it a point to bring clean and better smelling clothes with me to the shop and threw a few personal hygiene products in the bag. I felt the need to impress her, but if I truly did imprint it wouldn't matter. The primping made me feel better.

I yelled at Seth and Collin to tell them I was leaving. I heard some inaudible shouts back letting me know they heard me.

With cupcakes and the birthday invitations in hand I made my way inside the daycare center. I buzzed the door bell and they let me in. Everything seemed so small. I had to duck my head into the main doorway. There were toddlers playing in the main room, climbing on the soft structures. A couple of the kids looked up at me with wide eyes. I smiled at them and gave them both a little wave. One swiftly turned around and took off towards the teacher and started crying. I looked at the teacher and gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry," I mouthed. The teacher just looked at me and silently laughed.

I found the "Pre-K" sign for Vanessa's classroom and peeked in. There she was, leading the kids in the goofy Speckled Frog song, my Abigail. She was more beautiful than I remembered. She was wearing her hair differently from the day before. She had it swept up in a messy bun with a pencil holding it in place. It showed off her long neck. Loose pieces of hair were dangling around her face. I could hear her voice dominating the children's voices. It was bell-like and soft and in perfect key. I could feel my chest constricting and I knew there was no way I could be without her. I knew I was in for some angst and pain.

I didn't realize the singing had stopped until I heard Vanessa scream my name. "Uncle Embry!"

I was still gawking at Abigail and her eyes looked up at me through the door window. I probably looked really odd just standing there staring. _Frickin' peeping Tom!_

Stumbling through the door and forgetting to duck, I nailed my head on the door frame. Trying to act like that didn't just happen; I made my way in peeking glances towards Abigail. She had an amused look on her face.

"Uncle Embry, you pickin' me up again!?" Vanessa asked with her over exaggerated hand gestures and surprised face.

"Yeah! Is that ok?" I tried to copy her movements and the tone of her voice, which received giggles from the rest of the class…including Abigail.

"Can we get ice cream again?" Vanessa gave me an excited look.

"Nope," I replied. Vanessa's face fell a little. "Today, I have cupcakes!" Vanessa's face perked right up.

"Whoo-hoo! Miss Abby, can we have cupcakes please?" Vanessa pleaded, unnecessarily, to Abigail.

"Yes, that's why I haven't given you your snack yet. Your mom says they are for your birthday," Abigail knelt down to talk to Vanessa.

"I'm gonna be five!" Vanessa held up four fingers, then looked at her hand and then stuck her thumb out correcting herself. Abigail laughed and asked the kids to take their seats for snack time.

"Here, let me take those," Abigail said as she approached me. I could feel my heart rate speed up the closer she got to me. When she grabbed the container from me her hand brushed mine. I instantly felt the spark. She must have too because her head jerked up and she looked me in the eyes for a second, letting out a sharp breath. She hurried away from me with the cupcakes. _Man, she was afraid of me. _I didn't know what to do. I remembered the advice from the Den Mothers and went with the gentleman route.

"Uh, can I help you pass those out?" I nervously blurted out.

"Sure, could you wash your hands first? The sink is over there," she gestured to the short sink outside the bathroom door. The sink was made for 4 year olds. It came to my knees. _This was going to be quite the sight._ I ended up awkwardly bending down on my knees to reach the sink. I fought with the soap dispenser since it only had drips of soap left in it. I heard a few snickers come from behind me. I glanced behind my back and I noticed the whole class watching me with amusement. Abigail's lips were pressed firmly fighting off a laugh.

"Oh you think it's funny watching a guy my size use a four-foot sink?" I laughed as I gracefully hopped up off my knees onto my feet in one swift movement. Yeah, I was showing off a little bit.

Abigail gave me a sarcastic "no" as the kids continued to giggle.

As we were enjoying our cupcakes Abigail and I kept exchanging quick glances and smiles. My mind was blank and I couldn't come up with anything to say that didn't sound forced. I'm not usually like that with women. I like to think of myself as a pretty smooth guy, but this was different. I couldn't mess this up. Luckily, Abigail spoke up first.

"So Mrs. Clearwater had you pick up Vanessa again today?" she asked shyly. It was an obvious questions and I could tell she was embarrassed after she asked it. She was nervous to talk to me.

"Yeah, she had some birthday party shopping to do and Seth, uh, couldn't get away." I knew that was a lie since I just left him at the shop working on paperwork in the back office. Seth could have just as easily picked up Vanessa. For some reason it hurt to lie to her. I brushed it off.

"Mrs. Clearwater said something on the phone about the party," Abigail slowly licked pink frosting off her lip and my mind turned to mush. I could feel my own tongue sliding out to mimic hers. Once I realized I was gawking with my mouth open my eyes met hers and she quickly looked away. I could hear her heart speed up. I either creeped her out or she had some sort of feelings for me. I was hoping for the latter.

I suddenly remembered the invitation in my back pocket.

"Oh, here!" I grabbed the small envelopes and pushed them towards her. "There's an invitation for you to the birthday party," I dropped my voice to a whisper, "and one for Grace and Sarah too." I didn't want the whole class to know that only a couple of them were invited.

"One for me? Well, thanks. Tell Mrs. Clearwater 'thank you' for me," she seemed surprised. I watched as she placed the invitation in her back pack. She didn't even look at it. Maybe she didn't plan on coming at all. She placed the other two invitations in the girls' cubbies.

"I'm sure Tala wouldn't mind if you called her Tala instead of Mrs. Clearwater. It makes her sound old. She can't be that much older than you. She's only, like thirty" I was trying to get more information out of her without asking her twenty questions.

"I guess she's not. I'm twenty-six, but it's a formality thing for me. Unless she asks me herself, I'll probably continue to call her that. I have to respect my elders you know," she had a teasing glint in her eye.

"Elders," I snorted. "I'm only thirty-two…still a spring chicken!"

"You're not a chicken, Uncle Embry, you're a wolf," Vanessa's pink frosting-covered mouth blurted out. The pack was used to the young children of the family revealing too much. We knew how to cover ourselves.

"That's right," I replied quickly, "a young spring-lone-wolf." I glanced at Vanessa and gave her a warning glare. She just giggled at me. So much for the big bad wolf glare.

"You mean like a puppy?" Abigail continued to tease as she started to clean up the cupcake mess.

I started to help clean up while Abigail sent the kids to the sink to wash their faces.

"Do you think you and your…husband," it was hard to blurt out that word, "will make it to the birthday party on Sunday?" Abigail gave me a withdrawn look. "You know, so I can let Tala know if she's expecting a couple more mouths to feed." I'm pretty sure I failed at being indifferent with my question.

"It's Sunday?" she asked. I nodded, trying not to look too eager for her answer. "I'm not sure. I have church until one o'clock."

"It's not until four."

"Oh, well, I probably could make it. I'll have to check to see if I can," she seemed uncertain. _Does she have to ask him for permission?_

"You don't know if you can?" I could feel my body tense up with anger and I think it came out in my tone. Abigail looked up at me a little startled.

"Hey," Vanessa's tiny voice scolded as she smacked the back of my knee. _Just like her mother. _I instantly relaxed remembering where I was.

Abigail answered quietly, "Yeah, I'll have to check because I don't have a car." _Oh yeah, duh._ I felt embarrassed for getting worked up.

"The Escort? I'm working on that," I started to tease. "You really need to get another one. I told your…husband," it was still hard to say that word, "that he needed to get you something else. I'm not sure I can fix it."

Abigail's face immediately fell and turned away from me. It felt as though I brought up a sore subject so I dropped it. I had to keep my thoughts from the conversation I had with _Craig_ so that I wouldn't lose it again. I couldn't think about the way he talked about her.

Parents were starting to arrive to pick up their children so I knew my visit was coming to an end. I had been there for an hour making small talk with Abigail and I didn't want to leave. Some of the conversation was awkward and I really didn't get a lot of information out of her. I needed to spend more time with her.

"Speaking of your car," I asked Abigail as I loaded up Vanessa's things, "do you need a ride home? It wouldn't be a problem to drop you off if you needed a ride."

"Oh no, I couldn't ask you to do that. I'm fine…really." Abigail looked surprise by my offer.

"Are you sure? Really, I don't mind. Vanessa won't mind taking a detour." I made sure to mention Vanessa so Abigail knew it wouldn't just be her and I.

"I'm covered, really. But thank you. That's very nice of you," she said as she looked away shyly. "I have another hour or so until I'm off the clock anyway."

I gave up. I didn't want to push anything. "Ok. Hopefully I'll…uh; we'll see you tomorrow at the party." Abigail gave me a small smile as I helped Vanessa with her jacket.

It literally hurt to walk away from Abigail.

********

By the time I left Seth and Tala's house a torrential rain had started. I thought about Abigail and her lack of transportation. I ended up driving by the daycare to make sure Abigail was being truthful and in fact had a ride home. The daycare was dark and I didn't see anyone waiting outside. The rain kept pouring down in sheets. It was hard to see the road in front of me, even with my wolfy senses.

What my senses could pick up was a small dark figure hiding under a low mossy tree on the side of the road. I pulled my car over to see if I could get a better look. I rolled down the window and I saw that it was a woman. I called out to her. When she looked up I saw it was my Abigail drenched. Her hair was darker from the rain and her clothes were clinging to her body. I quickly got out of the car and approached her.

"What are you doing?" I hollered in disbelief over the sound of the rain.

"I'm running home. I didn't know it was suppose to rain," she said loudly over the rain, unaware I could hear her clearly.

"Come on, please let me take you home," I pleaded.

"Ok," she shuddered in defeat as she walked towards my car.

Once I helped her into the car I turned the heat up and grabbed my jacket from the back seat.

"Here," I handed her the jacket.

She glanced at it for a second as if she was debating whether to take it. Her body shuddered again and she finally gave in. I helped her wrap it around her soaked body. I really wanted to wrap my arm around her and share my 108 degree body heat, but knew that would be too much to ask.

"Where am I going?" I finally asked once Abigail was settled.

"Forks…off Olympic," she said as her teeth chattered.

"Forks!?" My voice raised in disbelief. "You were going to run 15 miles?"

"I've done it before," she said defensively. "I run for exercise."

"How long does that take you, like two hours?" I was trying to control my temper again so I sounded a little gruff. I hated the way she was _not_ being taken care of. I would've bought her a reliable car so she wouldn't have to run in the rain!

"No, about an hour and fifteen minutes," she snapped back. _Impressive. Although, I could run it in fifteen._

I needed to lighten the mood. I didn't want to freak her out with my temper.

"That's pretty impressive," I forced a smile at her. I was hoping it didn't _look_ forced. It must not have because she gave me a brilliant smile in return.

"I like to run," she looked out the window, but continued to smile. "It helps me think. Clears my mind." _My kind of girl._

"Yeah," I nodded in agreement. "Me too."

We drove for a few minutes in comfortable silence. Her vanilla and cinnamon scent was intensified by the dampness of her clothes and skin. I was hoping the smell would linger in my car after she was gone.

The only sounds in the car was the heat rushing from the vents, my humming to the radio, Abigail's fluttering heart beat, and her small voice giving me directions to her home.

Once we arrived to her street, I could see her gather up her things as if she was getting ready to bolt out the car door when I stopped. She anxiously looked towards her house. Once it came into view I could see her relax. The driveway was empty. I pulled in, and just as predicted Abigail blurted out a 'thank you' and quickly opened up her door.

"Hey wait," I gently grabbed her arm. She quickly turned around with an anxious look on her face. I realized I didn't have anything to say to her. So I searched my mind for something. I noticed that her eyes kept were focused on my hand on her arm.

"Maybe I'll see you Sunday?" I relaxed my hand and let her go. Abigail looked up at me and sighed.

"Maybe. Thanks for the ride Embry." My name from her mouth was the sweetest thing I've ever heard.

"You're welcome." I couldn't take my gaze off of her. She swiftly left the car. Left me. The aching in my chest returned as I watched her enter her home.

* * *

**How do you like Embry? It's hard for me to write in a man's point of view. I had to make myself fall in love with a girl which was not normal for me. If I'm not descriptive enough with Abby, just let me know. :)**

**I love reviews...hint hint. **

**xoxo**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimer: You know who S. Meyer is and what she owns._**

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Chapter 3.

The sun was hanging low in the sky making pink and orange layers in the horizon that peeked out between the mountains. It was a beautiful landscape and very serene. I was lost in thought and tuned out the birthday party that was happily buzzing inside the house. No wonder Seth and Tala built their house here. It was so peaceful.

I had been outside waiting for the arrival of my Abigail. I finally realized she wasn't coming. The first half hour I perched next to the door inside the house. I didn't want to seem too eager to see her. I tried to participate in the festivities, but I was too distracted. I kept getting sympathizing looks from people. Every once in awhile I would get a pat on the shoulder or one of the ladies would smooth my hair and kiss my head. I just gave them all a small smile. I knew they were empathizing with me. They all knew how strong the imprinting connection was. When I got sick of all the pathetic attention I was receiving, I made my way outside.

It had been two days since I saw Abigail. Today, I was really hoping to at least see her…even if I kept my distance. I fought with myself all day Saturday trying to stay away from her. Even when I was out on patrol I subconsciously veered off my usual path towards Abigail's house. Seth recognized what I was doing and brought me out of my trance.

So there I was, sitting on Seth and Tala's back deck waiting for her to arrive. But I knew she wasn't coming. It was obvious after the first half hour. People usually don't show up to parties that late. The need to see her, to see if Abigail was ok was so strong. I had to hold myself back from tearing in to the forest towards Forks. I was about ready to do just that when the back door opened.

"Hey! There you are," Quil said when he spotted me. "Where are you going?" he asked when he noticed I was half way down the steps.

"I need to see her."

"Come on…we're about to have cake," Quil asked trying to coax me into the house. "Let's get a sugar buzz first and I'll go with ya. You shouldn't go alone," He said with a deliberate look.

"Yeah, you're right," I agreed and followed him into the house.

We both sat on the floor in the family room surrounded by young kids with birthday hats and noise makers. I noticed Quil beside me becoming fidgety and uncomfortable. Claire was approaching him with a massive piece of cake. I internally chuckled. Quil had his hands full with Claire. She was "blossoming," as the Den Mothers liked to call it, and she had noticed Quil in ways she hadn't before. He had been struggling with his gradual attraction to her. He had noticed her more womanly features and he thought of himself as a pervert. To any outsider, yeah, it would seem creepy and disgusting for a thirty-some year old man to find his mate in a sixteen year old girl. But we knew better. We all tried to assure him that it was natural and he shouldn't beat himself up. We knew Quil wouldn't do anything inappropriate. He didn't want to encourage Claire's flirting but he didn't want to hurt her feelings either. With all her new hormones she was extremely emotional.

"I got a piece of cake for you," Claire handed Quil the plate with a dreamy look in her eyes. "I picked out the corner piece with all the frosting since I know you like the frosting best." She lingered for a second as if she were looking for his approval. My eyes shifted back and forth between Claire and Quil watching the exchange.

"Awe, thank you Claire-Bear," Quil cooed. That comment of appreciation made Claire giggle and blush.

"Where's mine?" I teased Claire.

"Get it yourself," Claire's dreamy smile turned into the ice-cold teenager glare. Quil gets the dreamy look, I get the fierce look. I watched her face crack a small smile before she turned around and stalked away. It was all an act. Claire was a sweet little thing who was trying to act tough.

I glanced over at Quil and started to laugh. "You're in trouble dude," I chuckled.

Quil let out a long drawn out sigh, "I know."

********

"Thanks for da fedders Uncle Embry," Vanessa said as she hugged me good-bye at the door as I was leaving. I found a pink feather-boa at the pharmacy the last time I was there. I knew V-Bee would love it. She was such a girlie-girl.

"You're welcome V-Bee," I said and kissed her on the forehead.

Quil was seeing Claire off before he was ready to head out to Forks. I leaned up against my car to watch the spectacle that was the Quil and Claire Show.

Quil was mumbling something to Claire and she was giggling and attempting to flirt. Quil was shifting back and forth on each leg, slowly backing away from Claire and her car. She was creeping closer. I decided to help him out.

"Hey Quil, are you ready or what?" I received the ice cold teenager glare from Claire again.

"I better go," Quil mumbled to Claire. "I'll see you tomorrow." He immediately turned around and mouthed "thank you" as he walked my way.

"She's got it bad, man," I said shaking my head.

"I wish she would just act like she used to towards me. She's making this so weird!"

We phased as we hit the tree line and we pushed our way towards Forks. We had plenty of time to go over our woman troubles.

"_What are you going to do once you get there?"_ Quil asked when we reached town.

"_I just want to check in on her. I'm not going to go knockin' on her door or anything."_ I just wanted to see Abigail.

"_No, you'll just be peeking in her windows and eavesdropping."_ He joked.

"_Yeah, something like that," _I snorted.

I didn't normally peek in windows. Although we wolves were pretty stealthy it was hard to be inconspicuous with our size. Plus, normal people just don't peek in windows! But in my situation I wasn't normal. I had a strong connection to Abigail. It physically ached to be away from her. Just one little glance to make sure she was fine would be good enough. It had to be. I couldn't approach her in the way I wanted to. I couldn't ask her out on a date. The only thing I could do was wait. Wait and make sure she was safe were my only options. I had all the time in the world. As long as I kept phasing into a wolf I would be immortal.

"_You'd die if a vamp gotcha," _Quil piped in.

"_Shut up." _Stupid shared mind.

"_And if you don't phase you'll be stuck at your age now and she would be way older."_

"_Shut up! You know what I mean. We're here."_

The night sky was very dark. It made it easier to sneak around and easier to hide in the shadows. I noticed the motion sensor lights in the front of the house so I kept to the back. I noticed Craig's car was missing from the driveway.

We kept to our wolf form so Quil could easily, and quietly, warn me if he saw any trouble.

Luckily there was a huge sliding glass window in the back of the house. The window opened up to the dining room next to the kitchen. Beyond the dining room I saw the dim glow of the television. It looked like someone was watching an old black and white movie. I wasn't familiar with the movie. The back of the sofa was facing the window, but I would see a blanket covered foot propped up on the one arm rest.

Patiently, I waited to see if the foot moved. I assumed it was Abigail. I was hoping she was alone. I didn't know how I would handle seeing her with _him_.

Finally, my patience paid off. The movie seemed to end and the foot disappeared from its perch. Abigail's head popped up as she picked herself up off the sofa. She slowly and gently wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and shuffled towards the kitchen. Towards me. She looked breathtaking even in her ratty old flannel nightgown and dirty slippers.

When she made it to the kitchen she flicked on the light. The light casted a faint glow on my face and I quickly stepped back into the shadows.

Abigail let out a quick gasp and at first I thought I was spotted, but suddenly a white cat popped up next to her.

"Oh Flurry, you scared me," she fussed to the cat as she picked it up and cuddled its fur into her face.

"_Hey, she likes furry animals, so that's good." _Quil mocked.

"_I'm glad this is entertaining you," _I snapped back and tried to tune him out.

Abigail looked lost in thought as she held the cat and stroked its fur in front of the window.

"Go to bed sweetie," she told the cat as she sat it down. "I'll be up in a minute."

Abigail grabbed a cup from the cupboard and the milk from the fridge. She chugged it down without stopping.

"_Hey, I do that," _I thought. It was an evening ritual of mine to drink milk before bed. That was two things we had in common so far. The first, loving to run.

As she rinsed out her cup in the sink her head dropped in front of her and her shoulders sank. I felt my body tense up, ready to move in if needed. She leaned against the sink for support. I could see her shoulders shake. When she finally calmed down and looked up I noticed her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

_She's in pain._ I thought to myself.

"_It could be from the movie." _Quil suggested.

"_It's not from the movie. I sense it. Something's wrong. What should I do?"_

"_There's nothing you can do. You know you shouldn't interfere unless she's in danger."_

I heard a car pull into the driveway, the tires crunching under the gravel. A couple of seconds later Abigail heard it too and she quickly turned off the kitchen light and disappeared into the darkness of the house. She looked anxious.

"_Let's just hang out and see who it is. Make sure she's ok. Ok Embry? We're being too risky here."_

"_I know who it is. Why is she scared?"_

I saw Craig enter the front door and throw his keys on the table near the door. I had to work hard to hold in my growl. I just despised that man for so many reasons. Where was he all night? Why didn't he come home to spend time with his wife? I watched Craig move up the stairs towards the bedroom.

Knowing he was going to climb into bed with _my_ Abigail killed me. My mind was flooded with images of his hands on her. Loving her. Cuddling up to her. I knew it was something that has happened. She was his wife. I had to stop before I made myself crazy. I waited around to make sure Abigail was safe before I left her for the night.

I stretched out my wolf senses and listened for her heartbeat. I couldn't see anything on the second floor so I relied on my hearing to check in on her. Her heartbeat seemed to pick up a little when he walked in the bedroom door and crawled into bed. After quite a few minutes I could hear the deep snoring from Craig. Shortly after that Abigail's heart rate slowed down and finally, she was asleep.

"_Embry, let's go. Everything's cool. She's sleeping."_

Without replying I turned around and bolted for the tree line.

********

Another week went by and I was still working on that piece of shit Escort. I figured out it was the transmission that needed totally replaced. I could either replace the whole thing, which wasn't worth it on that car, or fix it just enough to get by for another few months or so until something else gave out. Either option was a ridiculous waste of money. I often caught myself checking out the want-ads for used cars, picking out ones that I would buy Abigail if it were possible.

I asked Seth to call Craig to give him the details of the repairs because I didn't think I could tolerate speaking to the asshole. If he said one negative or disrespectful word, I wasn't sure what I would do. My temper was quite touchy lately. Expectedly, Craig opted for the cheaper route and the quick fix. Seth wouldn't give me specifics of the conversation, which was probably a good idea. I could see him through the glass while he was on the phone with Craig. His jaw was clenched and I could tell he was trying not to lay into him. I growled and walked away.

Since the first peeping Tom expedition with Quil, I checked on Abigail each night. It made me feel better to see that she was home safe. I was content just to watch her perform her evening rituals. Each night I noticed something new and different about Abigail. I got over the initial creepy feelings I had from the first night. Sam gave me the order not to go out alone, just in case. Someone else had to at least be patrolling, which was easy because someone was always patrolling.

Nothing exciting ever happened at the Reece house. Craig was never home, which was fine by me, but I wondered if it made her sad. Being all alone. She kept herself busy by making herself dinner, reading, or watching TV. When Abigail would hear Craig pull into the driveway she would dart upstairs and seemingly pretend she was sleeping. The poor woman had a boring life.

It rained a couple nights and I made it a point to sneak out of the shop early to make sure Abigail wasn't running home in the rain. She must have gotten a ride home because I couldn't find her anywhere along the route from her work to her home. I was hoping to stumble into her again on the side of the road. I tried to think of different ways to "accidentally" bump into her, but couldn't come up with anything.

One day I pulled myself out from under a car and went out for a quick bite to eat around lunch time. I walked to the store where my mother worked to buy one of her pre-made sandwiches. As I walked towards the store I felt my chest flutter from the familiar feeling of Abigail close by. My head snapped up and scanned my surrounds and actually sniffed the air, like the dog that I was. She rounded the side of the building and made her way up the steps into the store I was headed towards.

_Yes!_

Abigail had her usual glow around her which made her more beautiful than any other woman I knew. Although each individual feature of her face and body made me want to touch her, it was that glow that made her irresistible.

I rushed to the store and paused on the steps. I didn't have a plan. I didn't know what I was going to say. Should I wait for her to come out? Should I talk to her inside? I decided to talk to her inside to shield us from any nosey ladies from the community passing along the rumor that I was talking to a married woman. They would make mountains out of mole hills.

Quickly, I entered the door to the store and zipped past my mother at the cash register. Mom caught my eye and was ready to say something when I held up my hand letting her know I would talk to her in just a minute. It may have been rude, but I was on a mission. Mom would understand.

Abigail was down one aisle squatted down looking at the finger paint. I could tell she was concentrating, but something broke her concentration and she slowly glanced up at me. I thought I was being my stealthy self, but she had heard me. Maybe she could sense my presence too.

The same aisle happened to hold magazines as well so I quickly grabbed one and leafed through the pages trying to act like I didn't notice her. I heard Abigail's heartbeat accelerate and she let out a quiet sigh. Next thing I knew she was slowly approaching me. It was my turn for my heartbeat to accelerate.

"Hey Embry," her sweet voice quivered when she addressed me. It was shocking to hear her voice so close to me. It had been so long. The only other times I've heard it was through glass and she was addressing Flurry the cat. _And the way she says my name!_

I tried to casually glance her way, trying to keep up the charade.

"Oh! Hi Miss Abigail! How are you doing?" It felt like I had a little too much excitement in my voice. I tried to tone it down some.

"I'm ok, thanks. Please, call me Abby," g_lady, _I thought. "Whatcha got there?" she asked glancing at the magazine in my hand with a small smirk on her face. I glanced down and saw that I was "reading" _Martha Stewart Magazine_.

"Oh, um…" I saw a recipe on the open page, "there's a recipe in here that I want my mom to make for me." _Lame!_ Abby got up on her toes, inching closer to me, to look at the recipe.

"Tea sandwiches? Are you going to a tea party with Vanessa?" Abby continued to smirk.

"No…I like," I glanced down to the ingredients, "cucumbers…and pepper." _Oh good Lord this is not going smoothly._ Abigail just snorted, which was so cute by the way, and slightly shook her head.

"I just came in here to grab a sandwich and this magazine for the…tiny…tea sandwiches on my lunch break," I said as we both made our way towards the sandwiches.

"We ran out of finger paint," she said as she held up the paint. "The kids are making signs for the Family Festival we're having at the school in a few days," Abigail casually mentioned. My ears perked up and I wanted in on that and decided to call up Tala later to invite myself along. "And, I also need something to eat."

We scanned our selections and, at the same time, went for the only Reuben left. Reuben's are my favorite. Our hands touched, lightly flickering the energy between us, and we simultaneously pulled our hands back.

"Go ahead," Abby insisted.

"No, it's the last one. I saw you drooling over it," I teased.

"They _are_ my favorite," she was giving in. Good.

"Mine too," I whispered. Another thing we had in common. "I'll just take this one," I scanned the remainder. All that was left was egg salad. I _hated_ egg salad. I could see Abby's nose scrunch up. She must have disliked them too.

We both headed up to the counter and I handed my mom the sandwich to buy.

"Egg salad?" Mom said with a questioning look. "But you ha—"

"_Love_ egg salad!" I interrupted. "Oh yeah, and can you make me these…please?" I sat the magazine down on the counter opened to the page with the tea sandwiches. Mom looked down at the page and looked even more confused.

"But they don't have any meat on them," she said. I gave her a look that begged her to go along with it. "Ok sweetie." She glanced over at Abby.

"Oh yeah, Abby, this is my mom. Mom," I gestured towards Abby, "Abby."

They both got into a conversation about seeing each other in the store before. Mom asked her about what she did and Abby filled her in. There was mention of her husband a couple times and each time I winced. I just stood there during the conversation, not sure what to do. I didn't want to just leave while they were talking, but I didn't want to _look_ like I was waiting for her. Eventually they stopped talking and both turned to look at me. My mom gave me a look like she was wondering what I was still doing there. Abby gave me a gentle smile. I could feel myself panicking, trying to think of what to say again.

"You're car should be done in a couple days," I said as I inched my way towards the door. "The part is supposed to be in tomorrow and once it's in, it would take me long to install."

"Oh, great! Although, I'll have to find other times to run I guess," her smile got bigger.

"I'll call ya…about the car I mean. Or your…husband," that damn word got me every time.

Abigail was nodding her head still holding her big beautiful smile. "Ok."

I had made my way to the door and quickly turned around and stumbled down the steps, forgetting to say good-bye to my own mother. I was _so_ getting interrogated by my mother later for that spectacle.

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**If you're reading this and haven't reviewed yet, why not? :( I'd love to hear what you think. I'm not begging or anything...really.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews so far. I love hearing what you think. **

**A couple reminders, this takes place after my other story Power of an Imprint so there are a couple spoilers for that story in this chapter…nothing major. Also, someone asked about Embry's mother knowing that he imprinted on Abby. In the Twilight stories his mom doesn't know and he decides not to tell her. So as far as we know, Embry's mom doesn't know a thing about the wolves. **

**Someone mentioned Vanessa and how she sounds like a stinker. She totally is, but in a good way. She is loosely based on my 4-yr old daughter. When she's not thinking, she pronounces her "th" sound as a "d" sound too, therefore fedders = feathers. ****There are a few more speech things we need to work on before Kindergarten, so Vanessa may sound like my daughter because of it. **

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 4.

Our wolf pack has become the most recent popular legend in North America. People have heard about the multiple sightings of gigantic wolves throughout the country. Some people think we're bears because of our size. Many people think we're dangerous when little do they know we are protecting them from blood sucking vampires. Forget about Big Foot or the chupacabra, the Olympic Wolves have reached the top of the paranormal hierarchy!

We've been spotted several times by campers and tourists who have visited the area to catch a glimpse of us. We haven't had the need to travel in packs more than two or three lately, so the sightings haven't been too frequent. There have been enough sightings to pique the interest of several paranormal television shows.

Many of the Quileute people have been interviewed. The news programs have zeroed in on our community because of our legends and figured out that if there really are gigantic wolves, then we may know a little bit about them. Sam Uley has even been interviewed, which was quite funny to watch. The Alpha of our pack made up lies and denied everything, trying to keep our secret safe.

It just so happened that the SciFi channel was sending out a group to camp in the woods this weekend for one of their television shows. Sam asked us not to phase unless absolutely necessary or if it was our turn to patrol. So much for visiting Abby in my wolf form.

Even though I had a short visit with Abby that morning, I still had the longing for my evening peeping- Tom visit. Since I wasn't allowed to phase and it wasn't my night to patrol, I couldn't easily go all the way to Forks without being noticed. I decided to go to visit my other favorite girls, Tala and Vanessa.

As I approached the house I could smell something wonderful coming from the kitchen.

"Smells like I'm just in time for dinner!" I said as I walked through the front door of Seth and Tala's home.

"Hey Em! Yep, you timed it just right. The oven timer just went off." Tala winked at me as she pulled out the pan. "Chicken and dumplings," she said.

"You don't mind, do you?" I was unnecessarily asking permission to invite myself over.

"You know you're always invited," she shooed of my question. "What's up?"

"Since I'm not allowed to phase, I can't be all stalkerish tonight," I admitted.

"I totally understand why you do it, but you know that's creepy, right?" Tala honestly said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm over it. I don't watch her dress or anything. Now that might be stepping over the lines."

Tala laughed, "Yes! Yes it would. Pervert."

Tala was right, I was a pervert, but not when it came to Abigail. I didn't think of her in that way. Sure, I wanted to kiss her and hold her and feel her warmth next to mine, but I didn't get the usual fantasies I have had about other women. Abigail was different.

"Uncle Embry!" Vanessa ran down the hallway once she spotted me. She threw herself at me squeezing my neck. She was wearing her pink feather boa.

"V-Bee, how was your day?" I asked as I picked a pink feather out of my mouth.

"Good. You saw Miss Abby today," Vanessa said as she climbed into her seat at the dinner table. Tala gave me a smile as she placed food on the table.

"How do you know?" I asked Vanessa.

"She told me," Vanessa shrugged a reply like it was no big deal.

"Did she say anything else?" I knew I wouldn't get too much information from a four-year-old, but I thought I would try.

"No." _Bummer._

"Maybe I misinterpreted, but she did seem a little disappointed that _I_ was picking up Vanessa. She kind of had that hopeful look in her eye when Vanessa went running for the door. Once she saw it was me, her face fell a little." Tala piped in.

_Really?_ I could feel my face beam.

I absentmindedly grabbed for the rolls, but the basket slid away from me quickly. Shocked from the sudden movement, I looked up at Tala and she smirked at me. Tala had moved them, but not with her hands.

"Not yet!"

"Sorry Lord Vader" I chuckled. Tala was telekinetic. She discovered after a car accident she could move things with her mind. It happened to be the same day Seth imprinted on her. It came in very handy for her, especially when she was pregnant and huge and couldn't easily get things for herself. Her powers also got her into trouble when members of the Volturi guard, the royalty of the vampires, tried to turn her into a vampire, enhancing her powers, and take her home to their master. The wolves, along with a little help from a half-vampire, half-human, Renesmee Cullen, put a stop to that.

Seth had made his way home from patrol half way through dinner. As soon as Vanessa was excused from the table Tala started in on her favorite subject of late, Abigail and me, while Seth added his two cents.

"You know damn well that she has some sort of feelings for you. Well, maybe not exactly the same, but she's an imprint. There's _something _there. It's just gonna take time." Tala said.

"That's probably gotta suck for her. If she does have those feelings and then also still loves her husband…how confusing!" I sighed in frustration.

"I'm going to become her friend," Tala said like she just had a crazy idea.

"What do you mean?" Seth gave her a curious look.

"She is officially a wolf-girl now, but she just doesn't know it. I'm going to try to become one of her close friends. Start volunteering more at the daycare, inviting her out for coffee or to hang out with the other girls…you know, become her friend."

"She needs friends. The poor girl just sits home every night alone," I said sadly.

"Then it's settled. I'm pushing myself on the poor girl. I'll get some information from her. I'll keep Embry fresh in her head as much as possible."

"You're trouble," Seth teased Tala as he pulled her into a hug. _I wanted that with Abby._

"Oh, by the way, I'm inviting myself along to that Family Fair thing at the school," I said.

"It's for the public, Embry. Everyone is invited," Tala grinned.

"Whatever…I'm going 'cause Abby is going to be there."

"Maybe you could help her with the dunk tank. That's the booth the Pre-K is running," Tala informed me.

"Ok, that's what I'll do. I'll ask her if she needs help."

"I'll ask her tomorrow morning," Tala volunteered.

"I'm so gonna be there to dunk you man!" Seth was enthusiastic. "You're going down."

********

The stupid piece of shit Escort was finally fixed. Well, as fixed as it would ever be. Once again I asked if someone else could call Craig. Collin gave him a call and he informed me that Abby would be picking up the car after work. The shop closed at 5:00 p.m. Abby didn't get out of work until 6:00 p.m. Collin told Craig that the late hour would not be a problem. He knew I, personally, would keep the shop open to wait for her. He didn't even need to ask me.

I was overly excited for Abby's arrival. After everyone else left for the night I started to clean things up especially in the office where Abby and I would be settling the paperwork. I'm not sure why I was so worried about the cleanliness of a mechanic shop. _She won't care!_ I kept yelling to myself when I caught myself cleaning up a grease spot on the floor. I stopped cleaning and decided to focus on my own cleanliness. I scrubbed my hands and changed my shirt. I checked myself in the mirror to smooth my hair and wipe any grime from my face.

Right at six o'clock I stopped what I was doing and looked out the window down the road. Abby would be walking to the shop soon. It was a twenty minute walk from the daycare to the shop, for a normal human. I quickly thought about going to pick her up, but decided against it. _Too much. Too pushy._

The sun was setting making it darker outside. I made sure I left the outside lights on for her, but kept the door unlocked. Finally I saw her tiny figure walking towards me. Although she was only a silhouette, I could tell it was her from her walk and her curves.

Rushing into the office, I sat down and waited for Abigail to enter. The door bell clanged from its hanger when she walked in. I casually looked up with a smile to greet her. I could hear her heartbeat quicken.

"Hi," she said shyly. "Sorry I made you stay here after hours." _I wasn't sorry._

"No problem at all," I tried to shoo away her concerns. "I had some things to take care of anyway. Come in, have a seat."

Abigail sat down on one of the two chairs in front of the main desk. I grabbed the paperwork that she needed to sign and circled the desk to sit down next to her. I tried to not invade her personal space, but with my size and the room being small, it was hard to do. Abigail's heartbeat quickened again. I looked up to her face to make sure I wasn't scaring her from being so close. She was looking down at the paperwork with a small smile on her face. It looked and sounded like she was trying to control her breathing. The electrical charge around us was very strong. It took all my strength not to wrap her arms around her and pull her to my chest.

I cleared my throat. "Ok," my voice was a little too unstable. I cleared my throat again to try to regain my composure. I went over the repairs I made on the car and showed her where she needed to sign. Then we got up from the desk and made our way out to the Escort where I popped the hood to inform her of what she needed to look and listen for. She listened intently and asked great questions, but she made little eye contact with me. Probably because when she did her heartbeat would accelerate and she had trouble speaking.

How easy would it be to casually ask her out to dinner right now? How easy would it be to mercilessly flirt with her and put on my charm? I could tell by her body's reaction to me that she would give in so easily. The universe sucked, so I couldn't. Instead, I ignored the urge.

"I was thinking," I started, "I should probably follow you home." Abby's head popped up and looked me in the eyes. "I'm not too certain about that transmission and I want to make sure you make it home safely."

"I'm sure you did a fine job. I couldn't ask you to do that," Abby replied. "That's out of your way. Don't you live here?" _Be more convincing Embry!_

"My friend's stepdad is Chief Swan. A bunch of us are going over there for dinner," I tried to cover quickly although I didn't like making up a lie. "It will be on my way."

Abby gave me a big smile and agreed. After I opened the door for her and helped her into the Escort, I rushed to my car to make the drive to her house. I was going to have a couple more minutes with my Abigail.

Abigail pulled into her driveway and I parked my car behind hers in the wide driveway. I quickly got out and was at her car door before she could open it herself. She let out a small yelp when I opened the door for her.

"You scared me," she said breathlessly as she clenched her chest.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "How did it drive for you? I saw that it shifted a little hard into third."

"It was fine. That's how it shifted before." Abby made her way out of the car and leaned up against the car. I stayed in my position holding the door. "Thanks for following me home. That was very sweet of you."

Abby looked up at me and seemed to be inching towards me. The gravitational pull we had between us was trying to force us together. Abby's heart was racing again. I cleared my throat and that seemed to snap her out of her trance. She noticed what she was doing and quickly backed away. I pretended not to notice.

"Tala was telling me that you may need help with the dunk booth at the fair. I could help out if you needed it," I offered. The change of subject seemed to help the tension.

"Yes, Tala mentioned something to me about it this morning. She said you wouldn't mind. No one wants to volunteer because the water can get pretty cold sitting outside all day," she replied.

"I can handle it," I laughed. I noticed headlights coming down the road and quickly backed away from Abby. The purr of the Corvette told me it was Craig. On all the nights he decides to come home at a decent time, it was when I wanted, _needed_, to visit with Abby.

Once I backed away, Abby's head turned and caught a glimpse of the car approaching the drive way. She quickly shut the car door and headed towards her house.

"I'll contact you about the fair. Thanks for everything Embry." Then she was in her house and I was separated from her again. I didn't like how she looked so anxious.

I didn't even have time to respond when Craig was out of his car approaching me very quickly. I tried to put on a friendly face to this man I despised. I didn't need to cause any more tension between Abby and her husband.

"Who are you?!" he asked loudly. "What are you doing here?" He had his chest all puffed out trying to intimidate me. Me. I towered over him as I did every other normal human. I tried to keep my cool and be polite.

"I'm Embry. I fixed the Escort," I tried to explain as I stuck out my hand out for a shake. "I spoke with you when you brought the car in." He seemed to calm down a little but kept questioning me. He didn't shake my hand either, which was fine by me.

"What are you doing here?" He sneered.

"I followed your wife to make sure the car was driving alright for her," I explained. "I was driving this way anyway." If he knew anything about cars my excuse may be hard to pull off.

"Wouldn't you guys test it before calling me?"

"Everyone drives differently…" I trailed off. "It seemed to drive just fine. Give us a call if you have any problems." I decided to get out of there before he became suspicious of my intentions.

Craig just grunted in reply and headed towards the house.

I really wanted to stay to make sure Abby was going to be fine. I couldn't just wait around for no reason. I couldn't phase and leave my car parked somewhere. I didn't hear any signs of hostility from the house so I decided to go home. I wasn't allowed to phase anyway per Sam's orders. And I wasn't on patrol that evening.

Abby was going to be fine. She had to be.

*******

Through Tala, I received the information I needed to man the dunk tank at the fair. I was disappointed Abby didn't call me herself. Since I was the only person to volunteer, I had a three hour shift on the dunk tank. I didn't mind because I would be working the booth with Abby. She would be taking the tickets.

It was the afternoon of the fair and I hadn't been able to see Abby in two days. I tried hanging out at the store during lunch time, but she never came in. I ended up visiting with my mom and dodging any questions that came up about Abby. I couldn't tell her anything. It would be much easier if I could. As far as I know, she was still unaware of the wolf pack. If she did know anything, she never let on.

The fair started at 5:00 p.m. I was asked to be at the school fifteen minutes early, but I arrived by 4:30. I was too eager to see Abigail. Once I arrived at the school's parking lot I noticed several people scurrying around getting ready for the festivities. There were so many booths in the tight space and I had no idea where the dunk tank was. I decided to track Abby down by following her scent. After I caught the vanilla and cinnamon aroma I found Abby in the corner of the lot decorating the booth. She didn't see me approach.

"Embry Call at your service," I said as I tried to bow gracefully next to her. Once again, I startled her. Abby was a very skittish person.

"Embry, Hi," she said with her hand to her chest. "Man, I never hear you. You're so quiet!"

"Sorry," I said sheepishly.

"And, you're early," Abby continued. "Not that I'm complaining." She mumbled. My eye brows shot up at her comment and I gave her a big smile. She tried to recover, "I mean I could use help with set up." She returned my smile and slightly shook her head in embarrassment.

"Ok, just tell me what to do," I told her. She instantly had me hanging the signs and moving the tables to where she needed them. The dunk tank was already filled up so all I needed to do was climb up on the bench where I would be perched just to make sure it would hold my weight.

We worked well together. Our conversation was light and easy. I tried my hardest not to flirt with her too much to avoid any awkwardness. There was a little tension between us because of our connection, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. The tension may have been from my occasional stopping to take a glimpse of her. Of course there were the few instances where our hands would brush up against each other or we would accidentally bump into each other in the small space and then the sparks would fly. But, I noticed there was something a little off with Abby. I observed her enough to know that something was not quite right. But then again, it could be my close proximity. I seemed to make her jumpy and her heartbeat quicken.

When it was time for festivities to begin I pulled off my shirt and tossed it at Abby on my way up the ladder. As I was making my way up the ladder, I asked her how many throws each person had per turn. She didn't answer. I glanced over towards her and I caught her eyeballing me. Her eyes were scanning my body and her jaw was slack. She was still holding my t-shirt close to her chest.

"See something you like?" I couldn't help teasing her.

Abby's eyes flew up to look at me and a flush crept up her neck towards her cheeks.

"No! Yes!" she stuttered. "I mean…uh…I'll just put your shirt under here."

"Alright, who's the first to try to dunk me?!" I hollered at no one in particular.

"You're gonna freeze!" Abby hollered back.

"Nah! Only if someone hits that target." I replied.

From my perch and my superior vision, I could see everyone who arrived. I had fun taunting people that passed by, but no one could dunk me. Seth, Tala and Vanessa made their way over and Seth attempted to get me in the water. The first shot hit with dead-on accuracy. I waited for the splash, but nothing happened.

"Hey, this thing is rigged!" Seth complained playfully. It didn't matter; the money was going towards the school.

"Oh my gosh," I heard Abby gasp. "I think I forgot to have you undo the safety latch."

"It _is_ rigged! Booo…" Seth continued to complain, making the girls giggle.

I looked down and saw Abby rushing up the ladder. She half-climbed onto the seat with me and reached towards the end of the bench seat to release the safety latch.

"I think all we have to do is flip this up," Abby said to herself as she tried to wiggle the latch.

"You know, you could've just told me," I said, but was interrupted by a crack of a ball hitting the bullseye.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. As soon as I heard the sound, I felt the bench seat give, I saw Abby lose her balance, and then felt the sudden chill of my body hitting the water. I was only under the water for a second and when I emerged I could hear Abby next to me shrieking while her hands were clawing for something to grab onto.

With one arm on the ladder I carefully grabbed Abby around the waist with the other. I pulled her close to my body, protecting her from going under again. Her body was pressed close to mine and she instantly pulled her arms around my neck. Our faces were close together and I could feel her breath against my face as her chest heaved for air. I couldn't tell if it was from the shock of the dunk or our closeness.

"Are you ok?" I whispered. Abby looked up and nodded and continued to stare at me. I watched as her eyes made their way to my mouth and she slowly leaned forward, her tongue darting out to lick her lips in anticipation.

I wanted this so badly, but I knew others were watching. I didn't want to turn her down, but I couldn't let her kiss me. We didn't need to spread any gossip about Embry and the married preschool teacher.

Just as her lips brushed mine I pulled back with a groan.

"People are watching," I warned her. Abby let in a small gasp as if she just came out of a trance and was aware of the inappropriate situation we were in.

"Sorry," she whispered as she tried to hide her face in my chest, out of anyone's view.

Without a reply I hoisted Abby up onto the ladder and helped her out of the water. We both climbed down the tank and grabbed some towels.

After seeing the crowd that gathered for the spectacle, I was glad I stopped the kiss. It didn't look as though anyone was eyeing us suspiciously, but I couldn't make Abby look bad. I didn't care what people said about me, but I didn't want Abby to have the reputation as an adulterer. As I looked up at the tank, it was pretty clear the view would've been blocked by most people.

"Abby, are you alright?" Tala asked as we were toweling off.

"I'm ok, just embarrassed." Abby replied with a chuckle.

"Well, you'll have to blame Seth for that. He was trying to catch Embry off guard and his plan went awry…didn't it Seth?!" Tala glared towards her husband.

Seth looked at Abby sheepishly, "Sorry Miss Abby."

"That's ok," Abby laughed. At least she was a good sport.

"Do you need some dry clothes? I don't live too far from here," Tala offered. "Seth can sit here with Embry."

"That would be great. We still have another two hours and it's starting to get cold." Abby glanced my way with a small smile and followed Tala and Vanessa towards the exit.

Before I climbed back to my perch, Seth stopped me.

"What the hell happened up there?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"Oh man, you saw that? Do you think anyone else noticed?"

"No, but you've gotta control yourself or it will get messy."

"You think I don't know that?" I spat. "It took all my strength to stop her from kissing me." My hands smoothed against my face in frustration.

"Dude, you're doomed."

"I know!"

* * *

**ooohh...a small confrontation with the husband! Trying to throw a little tension in there.**

**Recommendations - Take the Cake by sandyk199. It's so good and the cupcake recipes make me drool.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Embry, I need to talk to you about something," Tala informed me as I watched Abigail drive away from the Family Fun Fair in her piece of crap Escort.

"Ok." I answered as I continued to follow the Escort's taillights until they disappeared into the darkness.

Tala nervously glanced over to Seth as he strapped Vanessa into her car seat. When he was done he nodded towards Tala and she continued.

"You have to promise to not freak out and listen to all I have to say," Tala warned.

"Is it about Abigail?" I asked and tried not to panic.

"Yes," Tala continued. Seth moved closer to me as if he was getting ready to grab me. I instantly started to panic. "When we went back to my house, Abby was changing her clothes and I noticed something." Tala paused to gauge my reaction.

I eyed her wearingly, "Please, just tell me."

"She had large bruises on her arms," Tala blurted out quietly.

I felt my body tense up and my breathing started to accelerate. I took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself. I waited until I steadied myself before asking any questions.

"Did you ask her about them?" I asked through my clenched teeth.

"Yes," Tala replied carefully sensing my temper. "She claims she hurt herself when she tripped while running." My breathing sped up again and I looked at Tala doubtfully. She rushed the remainder of her explanation knowing I was ready to blow. "But to me it doesn't look like it was something from falling, it looked like she was grabbed...maybe too roughly."

My body started to shake at the thought of someone hurting my Abigail. I knew exactly who was to blame for whatever it was that happened to her. A low growl started to rumble in my chest. I felt my inner Incredible Hulk getting ready to burst out. Seth brought me out of my wrath.

"Embry. You need to calm down." Seth growled at me. "Vanessa is in the car and there are a lot of clueless people around."

At the sound of Vanessa's name I bolted for the woods towards Forks before she or anyone else witnessed me burst into my wolf form. I was hoping to make it to Abby's house before she did and find Craig home alone.

Once I made it to the cover of the trees, I shred out of my clothes and ripped into my beastly self. I could hear Sam, Collin, and Brady in my mind. I could sense Sam's disappointment from me disobeying his request to keep a low profile. I ignored them all, trying to shield my thoughts. Five miles from the school I could feel Seth's presence shimmer in my mind.

"_Where are you going?"_ Seth asked.

"_Where do you think?"_

Seth graciously filled the others in on my recent conversation with Tala. Sam's Alpha voice rang through my head.

"_Embry! Stop. Now!"_ My body instantly halted in mid-stride at the force of Sam's Alpha command. My paws dug into the earth and I tumbled over myself as my body's momentum kept me moving forward. I heard the other four voices in my head wince and groan along with me. My body finally rested and stayed limp on the forest floor.

"_Dude, you alright?"_ Quil asked.

"_Yeah." _I grunted. Of course it would be my luck Sam was available to command and prevent me from killing someone. A wolf cannot go against the Alpha's command.

"_Sorry, but I wasn't going to let you go kill anyone."_ Sam said firmly.

"_Come on! Just let me go check on Abby!"_ They could all hear the pleading in my tone and feel my desire to be near her, to make sure she stays safe.

"_She's not even home yet. She just left the school."_ Seth added.

"_Wait right there, Embry. Seth and I will go with you."_ Sam directed. I could hear in his mind that he would feel the same way if his Emily was in this situation. He knew I had to check on Abby.

As soon as Seth and Sam arrived I sprang to my feet and started running to Abigail's house. It looked as though Abby hadn't been home very long and she was alone. I was relieved she was alone, but disappointed Craig wasn't there to tear into.

"_You're not tearing into anyone Embry." _Sam growled.

"_He. Hurt. Her."_ I growled back.

"_You don't know that."_ Sam's voice started to get the Alpha tone to it so I tried to calm myself down. He would probably command that I leave if I couldn't control myself.

I ran to my usual spying spot at the back of the house to peer into the window. Abby threw her things on the counter and I watched as she started to rummage through her junk mail. Her hair was still slightly wet from the dunk tank and the clothes Tala let her borrow were a little too big and hung off of her loosely.

When Abby was finished going through the mail she slowly started to take off her jacket and that's when I noticed the marks Tala was referring to. Right above each of Abigail's elbows were several bruises circling her arms. They looked harmless until the ones closer to her elbows came into view. There were four small bruises that looked like they were made from fingers grabbing her too forcefully. A low snarl started in my chest.

"_I'm gonna kill him_." I thought as a picture of Craig's bleeding face flashed through my mind.

"_You don't know it was him."_ Sam spoke calmly. "_You need to figure out what happened before you overreact." _

Sam was right. As much as I knew in my heart Craig was treating Abigail badly there wasn't anything I could do at the moment. I wasn't going to force an explanation out of her. I didn't want to scare her off with my accusations. All I could do was watch over her and make sure no one could hurt her again.

"_You can't watch her every minute of the day Embry." _Seth tried to explain. "_You have a life too."_

"_Abby is my life. Even though I can't have her, I can keep her safe."_

For the next half hour, as I watched my Abby go through her evening routine, Seth and Sam tried to get me to come home with them. They noticed that every time I looked at the bruises a violent image of me pummeling Craig ran through my mind. They didn't think it would be safe for him to be near me while I was in that state of mind. In the middle of the silent heated argument between me and Seth and Sam, I heard the soft purr of a Corvette whizzing down the road. Once I heard it, the other two wolves heard it and knew from my mind who the driver was.

"_You will NOT approach him Embry." _Sam commanded, but not in his Alpha voice. "_You can only interfere if he comes close to harming her."_

"_I won't let it get that far."_

We received a nervous vibe from Seth and immediately tuned into what he was seeing from the front yard. Craig had squealed into the drive way, threw the 'Vette into park and was stomping his way towards the house. He didn't look happy.

My growl became louder as Craig approached the door and Abigail's head swiveled toward the window where I was peering in. She must have heard me, but she didn't see me and started to curiously peek out the window. Abigail didn't make it all the way to the window because as soon as she heard the front door angrily open she stopped in her tracks and froze.

"Abigail!" Craig's voice exploded from the front of the house. My growl got louder. Abby's eyes darted towards the window again. Her face seemed scared and confused. Seth and Sam were trying to calm me down, but it was hard to hear them through my anger. I was angry at the way Craig said her name and I was angry at the fear that came from Abby's eyes.

By this time Craig found Abigail in the kitchen.

"Abigail!" Craig said again. This time she spun around to look at Craig in the face. "What the hell were you doing today?" I couldn't see her face now, but I could see his and it was red with fury.

"What do you mean?" I heard Abby say softly. "I was working…and we had the Family Fun Fair after school."

"Why is your hair all wet?" Craig sneered.

"I was working the dunk tank and fell in," Abby explained as she looked down at the floor. She continued to sift through the mail and then walked by Craig towards the dining room table. When she brushed by close to him I felt my muscles twitch, ready to attack. He let her walk by and slowly turned around to watch her closely. I noticed she put some distance between herself and Craig, as if she were using the table as protection. I followed her along the house, keeping within the shadows. I had a full view of what was going on from the outside of the sliding glass door.

"I heard what happened," Craig said with a smirk on his face, in a mocking tone. Abigail looked up at him with a confused expression from across the dining room table. Before she could reply Craig continued.

"Are you trying to make a fool out of me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Abby said quickly shaking her head.

"Yes you do!" Craig yelled. I felt myself ease up onto the glass. I heard a warning growl from Sam and caught myself from going any further. Craig's voice started to get louder with his accusations.

"The little show you put on for the whole town! You and some guy with your arms and legs wrapped around each other in the water!"

"It wasn't like that!" Abby tried to defend herself. "I fell –," Craig cut her off.

"Bullshit!" he screamed as he pushed the dining room table across the floor until it ran into Abigail, slamming into her hips and trapping her against the wall. Her head knocked into a picture hanging on the wall making the glass shatter and fall to the floor.

Before I realized what happened, before the glass from the picture even made it to the floor, I was standing in the dining room between Craig and Abigail. My muzzle was so close to Craig that I could see my jagged breath move the hair on his head. I was close enough to sink my teeth into his neck.

As soon as that thought entered my mind, I received the Alpha's command to not make a move.

"_Embry! Unless he comes at you or Abigail, do not touch him!" _

I felt my body give to the command and I sat on my haunches. My doggy lips were pulled back showing my teeth and my growl was steady, threatening Craig. His eyes were wide and focused on me the entire time. I could see the fear in his face and I enjoyed it. His body backed away from me towards the kitchen, stumbling as he tried to carefully get distance between us.

I knew Abigail was directly behind me. I could hear her staggered breathing and her thumping heart. I didn't dare look back at her. I didn't want to see the expression on her face. I was afraid she was horrified by me and the way I barged into her house. She had to have been. I gigantic horse-sized wolf was sitting in front of her practically pinning her to the wall. But I wasn't going to move until Craig was out of the house.

I looked around the room and noticed that I had totally demolished the dining room table. There was wood and shards of glass from the sliding glass door everywhere.

Within seconds of the initial break in, I heard Sam and Seth shimmer out of my mind and walk through the door, half dressed.

Craig snapped out of his terrified gaze once he saw Sam and Seth.

"There's a giant rabid dog in here!" Craig yelled and pointed as if Sam or Seth could not see me. "Call the police!"

Sam kept his distance from me and didn't acknowledge my presence. He glanced behind me.

"Abigail, are you ok?" Sam quietly asked. I didn't hear a response so she must have given him a nod because he smiled at her and said, "Emily and Tala are on their way."

Sam approached Craig and his face changed. "We've called the police." Then he looked up at Seth, "Seth, take him out of here."

"What's going on here?! Do you not see that monster sitting there? Is that _thing_ yours?" Craig was furious. His face was flashing back and forth from Sam's serene face to my snarling snout. Sam continued to ignore me. Seth helped Craig up by the arm and led him out of the room. Craig screamed profanities and tried to get out of Seth's grip the entire time.

Once Craig was out of the house I relaxed from my protective stance over Abigail. I inched away from her and finally turned around to look at her for the first time. To my surprise she looked calm, but her eyes were wide staring at me. She didn't look frightened or scared. She was holding the back of her head with her hand and I noticed that hand was covered in blood. The sight of the blood sent me into panic mode. I let out a whimper and tried to see the damage on her tiny head.

"She's ok," Sam assured me and then faced Abby. "It's not that deep, but you may need stitches." Abigail remained silent as her eyes darted between Sam and me.

"Sam!" Emily and Tala rushed in and took in the scene. Tala walked past me and ruffled my fur before she approached Abigail. Abby seemed to relax once she saw Tala's familiar face and the way she interacted with me.

"It's ok Abby." Tala tried to sooth her. "He's not going to hurt you." Tala turned towards me and glared, "And I'm sure he'll apologize for trashing your dining room as soon as he can!" I snorted in response.

"Everything ok in here?" Chief Swan's voice came from the front door.

"We've got it covered. We'll take care of the mess, but Abigail will have to go get her head checked out." Sam explained.

"Ok, I'll go to the hospital and get her statement from there." Chief Charlie Swan is aware of the wolf pack and has been for quite some time, although he is not totally aware of our purpose of protecting the community from vampires. As far as we know, he doesn't even know vampires exist, even though his own daughter is bloodsucker…a "good" one. If he is informed of anything, he keeps it to himself. Charlie does know that we aren't the evil, dangerous creatures that our legend claims us to be. He usually lets things like the destruction of homes slide, especially if we did it to protect others.

"I have enough evidence here and can get a statement from Embry and you to lock Mr. Reece up for the night." Charlie ignored the big bad wolf in the room and talked to Sam directly. Someone must have told him I was the one with the fur. He never talked to us in wolf form directly. We think he's till uncomfortable with the whole idea of shapeshifters.

"He's going to jail?" Abigail finally spoke and didn't seem to comprehend Chief Swan mentioning my name.

"At least overnight. There's a Mandatory Arrest in this state for a domestic and I can see from your injuries that you were the victim, not him. I have to arrest him. Any additional jail time will depend on what you tell me in your statement."

"Ok." Abigail whispered.

"Let me take Mr. Reece away before you bring her out," Charlie explained to Tala. "He's pretty pissed off." Tala nodded her head in agreement as she tended to Abby. We all listened to the ranting from Craig outside.

"Where's the Chief!? There's a crazy animal in there that destroyed my house and half naked men dragging me from my home and he's sending _me _to jail!?" Craig yelled from the front yard. He didn't seem concerned that the crazy animal was in the house with his wife. Not once did he show concern for Abigail.

Charlie rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I better go."

We all moved in silence until we heard Charlie pull away in the cruiser. Tala helped Abby up off the floor as I carefully looked Abby over to see if I could see any more damage to her small body. Once Abby was on her feet she winced a little and her free hand moved to her waist. I let out a small whimper. Tala turned around to face me.

"Go home. You can see her later," Tala said to me calmly. "I'll let you know where she is. She doesn't need you hovering over her." I let out a sigh and nodded my head in agreement.

Abigail was staring at me with her eyebrows scrunched together with confusion or disgust, I couldn't tell. Not once did anyone address me by my name, for which I was grateful. I wanted to be the one to tell her who and what I was.

I gave Abby my wolfy smile and her face softened and returned a small smile of her own.

It was hard to walk away from her when I knew she was injured, but I knew I had to give Abby some space to deal with the situation.

********

**What did you think of the action? Review and fill me in with your thoughts. I always enjoy hearing from you.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

After my big, bad, gray wolf side huffed and puffed and practically blew Abigail's house down – well, the dining room glass door at least – I ran home and packed the car with things to temporarily fix the damage. I borrowed Seth's truck, recruited Quil for help, and picked him up on the way back to Abby's house. He was at Tala and Seth's helping Claire watch Vanessa.

On our way back to Forks I filled him in on the home invasion.

"Ho-ly shit!" Quil responded. "It's like an action movie or something. I can't wait to phase and watch _that_ replayed." I rolled my eyes at Quil's enthusiasm.

"It's a good thing Sam was there. I came so close to killing that asshole." I cringed. As much as I wanted to do a number on Craig, I didn't want to go to prison and I didn't want to hurt Abigail.

"It's just killing me that I'm not at the hospital with Abby." I pointed to the back of the truck and the building supplies. "I thought I would make myself useful while I wait."

Tala assured me she would call and fill me in on Abby's condition and where she would be staying. It didn't sound like she wanted to stay in her home for the night, especially with the huge hole in the back.

Quil and I went through the damaged dining room and cleaned up the glass and wood debris. I made sure to measure the door frame so that I could replace the sliding glass door. The destruction didn't look like it was going to be too pricey.

As we finished covering up the hole with a tarp, Tala called.

"Abigail's fine. She had a couple stitches and her hips are just a little tender and bruised," Tala informed me.

I felt myself relax, but I was still eager to see her. "What do you think? Do you think I could see her?" I asked doubtfully. It was pretty late in the evening and I knew Abby would need some rest after that whole ordeal.

"Well…" Tala paused and my hopes were squished, but then she continued, "she asked if she could stay with you." _What?_

"Sh…she what?" I stammered in shock. I wasn't expecting that. "What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything! I swear," Tala said defensively and started to ramble on about her conversation with Abby. "She told me that she didn't want to go back to that house. She didn't want to be a burden on me and Seth. The only other people she knows are the girls she works with and you. She was embarrassed about the situation and doesn't want her co-workers to know anything. She wondered if you would mind and I told her absolutely not because you had a big farm house all to yourself!"

Tala seemed overly excited about the idea of Abby staying with me for awhile. I, personally, was a little nervous about it. Excited as well, but nervous.

"Yeah, of course! She can stay with me."

"It will be a good thing Embry," Tala said sensing the apprehension in my voice. "I already grabbed some of her things and all you have to do is take care of her."

"I know. Just a little nervous is all."

"Oh and Embry? One more thing," Tala added.

"Yeah?"

"She asked that you bring Flurry with you."

_Oh great._

********

It took Quil and me exactly forty-three minutes to find that damn cat. We could've used our super strength sniffers, but the cat scent was all over the house. We finally found Flurry the cat wedged in the spare room between the headboard of the bed and the wall. He must have been scared from all the commotion. After we found him it took another fifteen minutes to get him out of his hiding spot.

_I hate cats!_

Flurry must have sensed my dislike because every time I went to pick him up he hissed and clawed at me. Maybe he sensed I was part canine. Although, Quil was able to carry him out of the house, so I don't think that was the case.

"Awe, he's so cute and soft!" Quil purred back at the cat while rubbing Flurry's ears. I rolled my eyes at his cooing. "I wonder why he doesn't like you."

"Probably because he knows I'm the peeping tom."

"That _is_ creepy."

"Shut up. I know."

I dropped off Quil and hastily made the drive to my house. Once I got there I saw Tala's car in the driveway and knew she was making sure Abigail was comfortable until I arrived. I tried to coax Flurry into my arms, but he wasn't having any part of it. I left him in the car and ran up to the front door.

Tala and Abigail were sitting at my kitchen table talking. When I walked in, they both stopped talking and looked my way. My eyes found Abby's and I gave her a timid smile.

"Hi," I gave her a small wave. She returned my greeting with a big smile that made me relax. _She's not mad or freaked out. That's good. _I thought.

"Hi Embry." Abigail said with a slight drawl to her voice and her eyes blinked heavily.

"She's a little drugged up," Tala explained with a grin and pointed to the pill bottles on the table. "The doctor said to give her a couple every four to six hours or so. But she can't drive. She'll have to stay home from work tomorrow. Here's her doctor's note if she needs to take it into work Monday."

Tala stood up and started to grab her things. "Abby, I can come over after work tomorrow and check on you if you want. Just let me know if you need anything, ok?"

"Oooh kaay," Abby gave a groggy reply.

I glared at Tala and followed her to the door. "Why didn't you put her to bed?" I whispered.

"Don't look at me like that. She insisted she was staying up to see you," Tala clarified. My eyebrows darted up at that comment.

"Does she _know_ anything?"

"She didn't ask a single question about the wolf in her kitchen, but honestly, I think she put two and two together." Tala saw the panic in my eyes.

"But how?"

"We're pretty observant Embry," Tala explained, referring to imprints. "We have that _feeling_. You're going to have to tell her eventually, but I'd wait until she wasn't hopped up on drugs."

"Thanks Tala," I gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You know you're my favorite cousin, right?" I used the phrase she uses to ask for favors.

"Uh, oh, what do you want?" she groaned.

"Would you go get the cat from my car?"

"Ugh. I hate cats," Tala mumbled.

I returned to the kitchen to find Abigail passed out. She was still sitting in the chair, but the top half of her body was stretched out on the table with her head resting in her arms. Her mouth was wide open with a little bit of drool escaping it. She was adorable.

Taking care not to wake her, I gently picked up Abby and took her to the guest room. She was cuddled into my chest when she looked up at me with drowsy eyelids and smiled.

"You're so pretty," she mumbled.

"Pretty?" I chuckled.

"Mmm…huh," she murmured and nodded her head into my chest.

"So are you," I whispered.

When I made it to the guest room I propped Abigail on the bed and helped her slide underneath the covers. Her eyes were closed the entire time as her body mechanically followed my instructions. Once she was settled in she opened her eyes a crack and stared at me as if she wanted to say something. I stood there and returned her gaze, waiting.

"Thank you," she whispered and finally relaxed with a sigh and fell asleep.

*****

The pain of several sharp, tiny daggers digging into my chest woke me up. When I opened my eyes a white furry face stared back at me. Flurry seemed to glare at me while he purred and kneaded his claws into my flesh.

"Oh you like me now or are you trying to torture me slowly?" I asked and stared back at him as if I was expecting an answer. "Get off me," I said and gave him my best dog growl, exposing my teeth and everything.

Flurry jumped off my chest, ripping into my skin on the way to the floor, and strutted out of the room. I hissed from the pain, but the minor cuts were already healed by the time I rolled off the bed. Another advantage of being a shape shifter.

The cat reminded me of the current guest I had sleeping over. I grabbed a shirt and made my way towards the guest room where Abigail spent the night. When I peeked in I found her still sleeping and in the exact position I left her the night before. Still sleeping at nine o'clock in the morning; my kind of woman! Her sleepiness could be from the amount of pain killers she was on so I didn't have the heart to wake her up to check on her.

Seth and the gang were aware that I wasn't going to make it into the shop that day and Tala let me know that Abigail had already called in a sick day with her boss. We had an entire day to be together. I wasn't sure if that's what Abigail wanted and I didn't know what she had planned, but I was glad to be available for whatever it was she needed help with.

My stomach growled so I decided to rummage through my kitchen to find something to eat. I found a box of pancake mix that only required water, so I pulled out the griddle my mom bought me for Christmas and attempted to make the entire box of flapjacks. I cooked up some sausage and eggs that I found as well and pulled out the gallon of orange juice. I wasn't aware I had that much food. I'm pretty sure my mother had something to do with it.

"Are you going to eat all that?" a shy voice asked in shock from the kitchen doorway. I was so consumed with cooking my breakfast that I didn't hear Abigail approach. She was wearing the flannel pajama bottoms she usually wore and an oversized sweatshirt. She must've changed out of the clothes she slept in. Her hair was pulled back into a high pony tail. She was beautiful in the morning. I think I stared at her a little too long.

"Hi, uh, good morning," I replied in a shy voice that matched hers and quickly looked away once I realized I was staring. I was a real smooth-talker with this one. "No, this plate is for you." I sat her plate on the kitchen table gesturing for her to sit down. I wasn't sure how much she ate, so it was a rather large serving; four large pancakes, a few sausage patties and three eggs. Abby eyed it in shock.

"What's wrong?" I worried, "don't you like that stuff?"

"Yes! Yes I do…I love it…but I don't normally eat this much," she giggled and sat down in front of her plate of food. "Thanks. I'm supposed to eat something with my pain meds."

"How are you feeling?" The mention of her medication reminded me of her injuries. "Are you still in pain?"

"I'm a little achy, but not bad," she shrugged.

She continued to eat her breakfast as I finished with the pancakes. I wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about or what type of conversation I should initiate. When I was done cooking I sat down across from her and noticed she was almost done with her plate.

"I thought you didn't normally eat that much?" I teased.

Abby gave me a guilty smile and said, "I didn't get a chance to have dinner." Of course not. Not with a wolf crashing her dining room and a portion of her kitchen. I wanted to apologize, but I kept my mouth shut.

There was another moment of slightly uncomfortable silence before we both started to talk again at the same time. We both shut our mouths and smiled.

"Go ahead," I insisted.

"I was just going to thank you. You've really helped me out," she said.

I wasn't exactly sure what she was thanking me for so I just nodded my head and said, "My pleasure," because it truly was. I would do anything for her.

"Really…for letting me stay here, for fixing up my house, for…you know…everything."

"It was the least I could do," I replied shyly and stole a glance up at her hazel eyes. She gave me a knowing look, but didn't reply to that comment.

"Are you sure it's ok? I won't stay long. I'll figure something out."

"Of course it's ok. You can stay as long as you want," I said honestly.

"I don't know how to repay you."

"No need to," I replied trying to assure her that she was welcome.

I hoped she would avoid any awkward conversation that I wasn't ready to have quite yet. I wanted to tell her to stay forever and leave her asshole husband. I wanted to tell her that she belonged to me and we were meant to be together. But shit, she just ended an abusive, controlling relationship, she didn't need me to come along and sound like I was trying to do the same things. At least I _think_ she just ended her relationship with Craig. I wasn't sure. I just assumed she would after that incident. My curiosity was killing me.

"So what are you going to do about your…_him_." I couldn't use the word husband any more. A husband should be a woman's other half. He should treat her like the queen that she was, not accuse her for something she didn't do and slam her up against the wall with a fucking dining room table! I could feel my blood start to boil so I made a conscious effort to calm myself down. Abby didn't seem to notice.

"I'm not sure," was the only response I received from her. She dropped her gaze from mine in attempt to end that part of the conversation.

I wanted to know so badly what was going on in her mind. Did she want to go back to him? I knew some women easily took their husbands back after abuse, but I hoped Abby was different. I hoped she had the confidence and strength to stand up to him. I didn't know how long this type of thing was going on, but I did witness the fear in Abby's eyes when Craig came home from being out late and how she tried to avoid him. Although I wasn't aware of the extent of it, something had to have happened before this last incident…other than the arm bruises.

I wanted to tell Abby all about imprinting hoping it would influence her decision and she would dump the bastard. But I knew that wouldn't be fair to her. I promised myself I would wait until this mess was over before I revealed imprinting to Abby. If she chose to stay with him, for whatever reason, I had to respect that. If that was the case, I wouldn't be able to tell her about imprinting. I would only hope we could remain friends. I prayed that it wasn't the case. I didn't think I would be able to hide the wolf part of me for too much longer. Abby would ask questions about it soon enough, I was sure. How could something like that go ignored?

Abigail's eyes were still concentrating on her empty plate so I decided to break the ice a little.

"May I ask you a deeply personal question?" I asked with a serious tone to my voice. Abby gave me a nervous look, but I didn't let her reply. "Do you like Science Fiction shows, 'cause if you don't, I don't think you can stay here." I knew damn well she did from the times I spied on her. It was an item to add on to the growing list of things we had in common.

Abby's face softened and she gave me a huge beautiful smile. "Why yes, yes I do."

********

The rain had been pouring down since the sun came up, although we hadn't seen the sun in days. It was a great day to stay inside and relax. The day was even better now that I was able to spend it with Abby. I usually got restless hanging out at home for too long, but I enjoyed Abby's company and it seemed as if she was comfortable hanging out with me as well. But when it came to me waiting on her because of her injuries, Abby became uncomfortable.

"Do you need help?" I asked her when I saw her wince in pain as she tried to get up off the couch. It may have been the seventeenth time I asked her that question since the morning. I started to stand up to help, but she stopped me.

"Embry," Abby sighed and held up one hand. "I think I can make it to the bathroom by myself."

"Ok, but I'll go get your pain meds. It's about time for some more," I said as I walked towards the kitchen to get her pills and something to wash them down with.

Abby sighed again and mumbled something she didn't think I heard, "I'm not a baby."

I decided to back off a little on the coddling after that comment, but not until I grabbed her medicine for her. When I went back into the living room Flurry was sitting in my spot on the couch. He looked up at me and grunted out some sort of a meow greeting.

"Where have you been hiding all day?" I received another grunty reply. "Move." I commanded, but the cat stayed put and continued to purr in his spot like he was daring me to make him move. I let out a low feral growl. The stupid cat suddenly jumped from the couch. I gave him a smug look and plopped down on my spot.

"Did you just growl at my cat?" Abby had an amused look on her face.

"He was in my spot," I admitted sheepishly and handed over her pill bottles.

Abby giggled and pulled Flurry into her lap.

"How long have you had him?"

"He's pretty old. I've had him since high school. My parents bought him for me," she seemed to become quieter when she mentioned her parents, even a little sad.

"Do your parents live around here?" I timidly asked.

"They died my sophomore year in college," she replied with an uncomfortable smile.

"Oh…sorry." I wasn't sure what else to say.

"Thanks. It's ok. They had me late in life. They were older and I was their only child. It was one of those instances where my mom died first, she had breast cancer, and then my dad just couldn't live without her. He died a few weeks later," Abby explained.

I looked at her in shock. "Wow. That had to have been a lot to deal with all alone. Do you have any other family?"

"I have an uncle and a couple cousins on my dad's side. I don't know them really well. My mom was an only child, so…" she trailed off with a shrug.

It didn't seem like she wanted to continue the conversation about her family, so I let it go.

"I don't think your cat likes me," I chuckled when I caught Flurry glaring at me.

"Well, you know, cats don't usually like dogs," Abby said with a smirk.

I felt my face fall with surprise and my body froze. "Huh?" I replied lamely.

"You did growl at him," Abby smiled at me while she cuddled Flurry into her chest.

*****

**In real life it's not likely a normal-thinking woman would want to move in with a man she barely knows. But as we all know imprinting helps with the whole trust thing, so to me it's natural that Abby would end up at Embry's home.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

The day went on too quickly for my liking. Abby and I watched a lot of TV and relaxed. The little conversation we had between us was mostly small talk. We went along our day as if our living arrangement was normal. Other than the occasional long glances, we were comfortable together. Every once in awhile small details about Abby would be revealed and I realized more things we had in common. Even though I didn't know a lot about her past, or her deep, dark secrets, or her dreams, or anything like that, I could tell from her personality Abby was perfect. Perfect for me. We would be perfect together.

I tried to avoid any conversation about her marriage and she seemed to avoid any conversation about the big gray wolf in the room. Abby's lack of curiosity about the whole wolf thing was killing me, but I figured she would bring it up in her own time. I sure wasn't ready to bring it up.

I was looking through my fridge for a snack when I mumbled something about my mom stocking it for me. There were things in the fridge that I didn't normally eat, like vegetables. I rolled my eyes.

"Your mom seems great," Abby said with a smile. She had made her way into the kitchen with me looking for a drink.

"She is. She just still treats me like a kid sometimes," I said gesturing to the refrigerator. "I don't usually have that much food in there," I smiled. "You're lucky or we would be eating a lot of take-out."

"Let me give you some money for food. I've ate a ton today," she said as she went for her wallet.

"Oh no," I insisted, "You've seen the way I eat. Your small portions aren't going to make a dent in the grocery bill compared to what I can do."

"Embry I can't stay here and mooch off of you –" Abby started to argue, but I interrupted.

"Yes, you can, so don't argue with me," I said trying to be stern, but playful. I don't think the playful part came out very well because Abby seemed to recoil a little when I raised my voice. I never wanted to make her feel that way again. I inched closer to her and handed her a drink with a friendly smile.

"Hey, I know!" I said, trying to make my voice sound more cheerful. "Maybe you can cook dinner. I'm a horrible cook."

"You did pretty well with breakfast this morning," Abby replied with a smile. My more cheerful voice seemed to make her more comfortable. I had to make sure my grumpy ass never showed its face around her.

"Eh, that's breakfast, that's easy. My mom taught me 'cause it's my favorite," I shrugged.

"Mine too," she said as she pushed me out of the way to look in the fridge. "Ok, what do we have in here?"

Abby took her time going through my cupboards and fridge trying to think of something to make while I sat back and watched. From the looks of it, we were having some sort of pasta. I enjoyed watching her, it was better than the sneaky peeping tom evenings. It felt normal and perfect to have Abby in my house scurrying around like she owned the place.

"You're gonna have to get the other jar of sauce out. I'll probably eat one by myself," I smiled as I pointed at the second jar in the cupboard.

She glanced back at me over her shoulder and gave me a curious look. "What is wrong with you?" She mumbled and slightly shook her head as she grabbed the other jar of sauce. I snorted a laugh. Abby continued to work and would occasionally sneak peeks in my direction and give me shy smiles.

"Ok, so, I know a little about your mom," Abby said, seemingly uncomfortable with the silence. "What about your dad? Does he live around here?"

Now it was my turn to become uncomfortable. "I really don't know my dad," I replied and chewed on my lip.

"Oh. You don't know who he is or you've never met him?" she asked timidly.

"Both actually. I'm pretty sure I know who he is, but not positive. My mother has never confirmed. I don't know if I really want to figure it out," I responded honestly.

My mother is Makah. The wolf gene is only carried within a certain number of Quileute people, which means, my father is Quileute. When I went through my transformation it caused a big controversy within the pack because we found out that my possible father choices narrowed down to Sam's dad, Jacob's dad Billy, or Quil's father. We're hoping Sam's dad is my father because he wasn't around for Sam anyway and already has the bad dad status. With the other two possible fathers, they would be seen in a bad light because they were both married at the time of my conception. One of my pack brothers was my biological half brother. We all decided we would rather not know.

Abby had stopped what she was doing to look at me. "You don't want to know who your father is?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

I just shook my head slowly. "It's complicated." I was hoping she wouldn't question me further.

"Ok." She took the hint. Abby gave me a small smile and went back to working on dinner.

*********

Abby and I continued to talk during dinner. She seemed to light up when she spoke of her parents and seemed genuinely interested in the dull stuff in my life. I chose not to fill her in on the wolf part of me and that was the most exciting part. Her enthusiastic interest must be an imprint thing because I was talking about some boring stuff like being a mechanic and what I wanted to do with my house. Abby listened to me as if I were reciting a love sonnet. She smiled a lot and looked at me all googly-eyed.

We were just about finished with dinner and I could tell Abby was starting to get tired. The pain pills the doctor prescribed didn't seem to make her as goofy as whatever it was they gave her in the hospital, but they did seem to easily drain her energy. Making dinner probably sent her over the edge.

When Abby stood up from the table to clean up the dinner mess, I stood up as well and gently grabbed her arm to stop her. The skin on skin contact sent a jolt of energy between us. Abby looked up at me with her huge hazel eyes and drew in a deep breath. I continued to stare at her longer than I should have. I wanted to kiss her badly, especially when she looked at me like that. She smelled so good and her lips seemed so kissable. I wanted to know what it felt like to have the energy between us with my mouth on hers, but instead, I withdrew and let go of her arm.

"Let me take care of all this," I offered. "You look tired. Why don't you rest?"

Abby quietly nodded her head and gave me a small tight smile before she quickly walked out of the room. I had a sense she was upset about something. Before I could follow her to ask what was wrong, Tala made her way into the house slowly, lightly knocking on the door. I looked her way and she must've witnessed my confusion.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "What did you do?"

"I don't know!" I whispered. "I just offered to clean this up and she looked like she was going to cry."

Tala looked at me skeptically, "What else?" I knew I couldn't get anything by Tala so I confessed. I filled her in on touching her arm and the electricity and the feeling of wanting to kiss her.

"But then you didn't kiss her?" Tala was trying to get the story straight.

"I can't!" I was trying to keep my frustrated tone down. "I can't do that when things are so messed up!"

Tala gave me the Den Mother smile. The one that let me know she was proud of me and she respected my decision. I just rolled my eyes at her. Little did she know how hard it was for me to not throw Abby over my shoulder, take her upstairs and have my way with her all night. Which, of course, I wouldn't do…but I thought about it all day.

"She's confused," Tala explained. "With all the feelings she's having. I've been there. I know. I'll go talk to her." I nodded and pointed to the living room where Abby was resting.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have Abby stay with me. It was going to be hard enough for me to control myself around her. But I didn't want to hurt her feelings by rejecting her either. Abby had only been in my home for one day and the tension was already getting to me. I didn't know how much longer I could keep my wolf secret from her. I knew it would only be days before I told her my true feelings. Every time I talked to her I wanted to tell her. The words were on the tip of my tongue. Having her close to me every day and not acting on my feelings would be hell.

I continued to clean up the kitchen and overheard the conversation that had already started in the other room. Abby and Tala were talking softly, but I could still hear.

"I guarantee Embry is ok with you staying her," Tala insisted.

"I just don't want to be a burden and make things uncomfortable for him," Abby replied.

"What do you mean?" Tala asked. There was a long pause. "He's cleaning up…" Tala must have assured Abby that I wouldn't interrupt their conversation. I thought about tuning out, but I couldn't help but listen in.

"It's so crazy, I trust him totally and I don't even know him. After being with a man like Craig I wouldn't think I'd be so trusting," Abby whispered between sniffles. "It's like I'm drawn to him, but…"

"But what?" Tala asked after a couple seconds of silence. I had stopped what I was doing, eager to hear Abby's reply more clearly.

There was another moment of silence and a long sigh, from Abby I assumed. "I don't think he feels the same." That confession nearly made my chest cave in. Of course I felt the same way!

"He knows you're married Abby," was all Tala said. There was no verbal reply after that, so I'm not sure how Abby took that comment.

"You have to trust me," Tala spoke up again. "Embry is a great guy. He's a little shy so he doesn't let just _anyone_ in on his life. But he would let it be known if he wasn't totally cool with the situation."

"Ok," I heard Abby whisper through sniffles. Man I felt like shit.

The phone rang and I snapped out of my eavesdropping. I picked it up and answered with a grunt.

"Embry, it's Chief Swan. I hear Abigail Reece is staying with you." Charlie asked. I confirmed. When Charlie was on duty, he referred to himself as Chief Swan. He must be calling about Craig. "Sam tells me you and the other guys are going out to fix up the Reece house tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm going to grab Collin, Brady, and Quil to help. Since he's seen Sam and Seth he probably won't appreciate them on his property if he comes home," I snickered.

"That's probably a good idea. He's not going home until tomorrow night anyway. He earned himself another night in lock-up for being uncooperative with me. Kept rattling on about me being blind and stupid for not seeing a gigantic wolf or something. Might have to call a psych." I could tell Charlie had a smile on his face.

"Oh, that's too bad," I chuckled in reply.

"I need to speak with Abigail please if she's available."

I called for Abby and she and Tala made it to the kitchen. I had one of those old fashioned phones with the extra long cord, but it wasn't long enough to reach into the living room. When I handed Abby the phone I could see her eyes were a little puffy from crying. My heart ached a little knowing I was partially to blame.

Abby pulled my shirt to keep me near her when I tried to walk out of the kitchen to give her privacy.

"Stay?" she whispered. I nodded and planted my feet, not sure what Abby needed me to do. I stood there and listened to the one side of Abby's conversation with Charlie. Abby was nervously playing with the phone cord and slowly inching towards me. I don't think Abby realized what she was doing. It was an imprint thing. We gravitated towards each other unconsciously.

Tala noticed and gave me a big smile and a wink. "I'm just gonna go," Tala whispered to me as she shuffled towards the door. "Tell her to call me if she needs anything." I nodded.

By the end of her conversation with Charlie, Abby was leaning on me. Her head only came to my chest so I couldn't see her face, but I could tell by her shaky responses on her end of the conversation she was upset. I immediately wrapped my arms around her tiny frame, grabbed the phone when her conversation was over, and hung it up for her.

Abby stood there in silence for awhile and I continued to hold her and smooth out her hair. Her hair was so soft and her vanilla and cinnamon smell was surrounding me. I had wanted to touch it all day and I was finally getting that chance. It sounded like she was trying to control her breathing. Then she started to sniffle and grip my shirt which opened up Abby's floodgates. Suddenly she started to sob and her breathing wasn't steady. I picked her up like a child and made our way to the sofa in the living room.

While she was curled up on my lap crying, I continued to play with her hair and it seemed to help her calm down.

"Talk to me. What's wrong?" I whispered and instinctively leaned down to kiss her head. Abby's body seemed to become rigid for a second, but then seemed to melt into mine a little more.

"I'm so stupid." Abby mumbled quietly.

"You're not stupid," I said sternly, but being careful not to be too severe. "Don't talk about yourself that way." Abby sighed in response.

"What did Chief Swan say?" I asked trying to get her out of the funk she was in.

"Craig's staying another night, but he'll be released tomorrow," Abby replied. "But the good thing is there's a No Contact Order on him so he can't get in touch with me in any way." She considered this a "good thing." Sweet.

But just to be sure I interpreted her words correctly, I asked, "Are you sure that's what you want?" Abby immediately sat up and pushed away from me to look at me.

"Yeah," she said with an incredulous look as if she were saying "duh."

Then, there we were again, locked in our trance-like gaze. The energy between us tried to pull us together. I saw Abby peek down at my mouth and it looked as though she was going to kiss me, so I interrupted.

"For how long?" I asked. Her eyes looked back into mine with confusion. "How long is the No Contact thingy?" I clarified.

Abby let out a long, frustrated sigh and slowly slid off my lap to sit on the couch beside me. My hand went back to its place in her hair, but Abby gently grabbed it and sat it on my lap. _Ouch. _Before I could say anything to not make her feel rejected and hurt again, she quickly answered my question.

"The No Contact Order is in effect until after the trial." She answered me while concentrating on a string from her ratty sweatshirt.

"There's going to be a trial?" I was shocked. I figured there were more than just the one or two instances that I was aware of, but enough for a trial? "What else has he done to you?" I asked through my clenched teeth. "You have to tell me." I've been dying to know the things Abby had endured. I needed to know so I could be careful and avoid scaring her in any way.

"Embry relax," Abby gave me a smile and put her hand on my shoulder. She shifted next to me on the couch facing her body towards me. She tucked her knees up to her chin. She was even smaller with her body folded into itself. "It's not a huge felony trial. It's just a small court date. There will be witnesses, but emotionally it's gonna suck just the same."

"Sorry, I just…I can't even…," I tried to control my temper. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." I finally said.

"I want to tell you. I _need_ to tell you everything."

* * *

**This is a short chapter and not much going on, but I felt some sort of intereaction was needed since she just moved in. **

**I'm still writing this story and I'm stuck on Chapter 15. I've been working on it for a couple weeks and just can't figure it out. Hopefully my updates don't catch up with me. My brain has been mush lately.**

**Please tell me what you think so far. I have a lot of people signing up for updates, but not too many comments. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello everyone. Are you hanging in there? I know that last chapter was a tad slow, but it was necessary. Some revelations will be made in this one.**

**This chapter is for SweetRia who gives me great reviews. She wants another chapter so here it is. Y'all can thank her. See what happens when you review!? I'm a total push-over.**

Chapter 8

Abby sat next to me on the couch with her arms wrapped around her knees. She wouldn't look me in the eyes when she recalled the events in her life that brought her to her current situation. Abby seemed embarrassed.

"My parents had me later in life, like I said. My dad was forty-eight and my mom was forty-four. They had been married for awhile and were pretty well off by the time they got pregnant for me. It took them awhile to conceive. My mom had a condition that was preventing her from getting pregnant," Abby paused and stared down at her feet. She pulled in a long breath, then let out an even longer sigh and continued. "So, when it was time for me to go to college I pretty much had all four years paid for.

"When my mom died I took a week off of school to help my dad take care of things. Then after my dad died, I ended up taking the rest of the semester off because there was a lot more to take care of and I was the only person left to do it," Abby gave a little shrug and I could see her eyes start to fill with tears.

"What were you going to school for?" I interrupted.

"Elementary education," she beamed in her reply. I could tell when it came to children Abby was in her element. Since I didn't question her further, she continued.

"I met Craig when I was trying to sell my parents house. He was the realtor. He ended up asking me out. I spent a lot of time with him since I really didn't have anyone else. He was there for me, helping me out. The next thing I know I'm married to him and living in a different city. I never went back to school. All my money for college was gone…my inheritance. I got swept up in my new life and wasn't paying attention. I was so stupid."

"What happened to the money?"

"Craig spent it all. On what, I don't know. If I ever questioned him about it he had some sort of excuse about us struggling and needed to use it for this or that…" she trailed off.

At this time I was thinking about the Corvette, nice house, and the piece of shit Escort Abby was forced to drive. I didn't vocalize my observation.

"After awhile I started to question him a lot. When I decided to go back to school I questioned the money situation again. I asked him where he was when he would stay out so late. He rarely made it home before I went to bed. I didn't know where he was and if I asked…" Abby was almost whispering and didn't finish her sentence. By this point in her story Abby's body had slowly leaned closer to me until she was pressed up against my side.

"You're so warm," she mumbled and then jerked away once she realized she was leaning on me.

"And you're freezing…come here." I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her closer to me.

"Why are you so hot? You're not sick are you?"

"No," I stated dryly. I didn't want to answer any more questions about myself so I tried to get her to continue. "Did you ever find out what he's been up to?"

"No, but once we moved here his absence became worse. I think he's seeing someone. He was against me getting a job. When I heard about the teaching assistant at the daycare I had to practically beg him to get me a car."

"Has he always been so…angry?" Angry wasn't the word I wanted to use.

"No, not angry. He wasn't really the happiest person, but he treated me well for the most part. He got worse when we moved here."

"What do you mean he got worse?" I tried to remain calm, but I could feel the frustration starting to build up. There was a slight tremble in my body when I thought of Abby getting yelled at and slammed up against the wall.

"Embry I can't talk about that part with you," Abby whispered timidly.

"Why not?" I asked as I tried to control my anger.

"You get too upset," she replied as she placed her hand on my chest. "You're trembling."

Abby's hand started to rub my chest in an attempt to calm me. It worked and I instantly relaxed and hugged her into my side a little tighter. Her tiny little frame next to me was the most comforting thing I would ever need. On impulse I leaned my head down and kissed her on top of the head again while I rubbed up and down her long arm. I needed to stop doing that. I had stopped her twice from kissing me, yet I could kiss her whenever I wanted? I was sure I was sending her some conflicting messages.

My actions were having an effect on Abby. Her breathing became shallow and her heart rate increased. Her hand stopped rubbing my chest and she slowly pulled her hand away.

"I'm going to get ready for bed," she said as she squirmed out of my arms.

When she stood up I gently grabbed her hand and held it for a moment. I'm not sure why I did. Abby looked up at me and seemed to have a hopeful excitement in her eyes. I wanted to pull her back to my lap and kiss her and make her mine. I wanted to tell her that I would keep her safe from _him_ and everything else that could harm her. I needed to tell her she was meant to be with me. But once again, I pussed out.

"Tala brought over a movie. Wanna watch it?" I asked. The excitement in Abby's eyes disappeared and she gave me a shy smile.

"Sure," she replied. She let go of my hand and headed for her room.

I threw my head back on the couch with a groan. I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to be able to control myself.

********

The remainder of the weekend continued pretty much the same as it started. Abby and I avoided any awkward closeness. It was a hard thing to do because of the pull we have towards one another. If I left the living room and lingered in the kitchen too long, Abby would make her way to the kitchen just to be near me. There were a few times where we got caught in each other's gaze, but she quickly broke off the eye contact before I had the chance to reject her again. I was starting to feel like a real asshole.

It wasn't like just any woman had a crush on me. Abby was my imprint. I could have her any time I wanted and I knew she wouldn't deny me. But I would feel like a scumbag if I took advantage of that in her situation. Splitting up with her husband didn't totally make her available. Did it? I struggled with that question every time I was near my Abby.

During patrol on Saturday the guys could hear me thinking about the situation with Abby. Seth, Sam, and the older wolves agreed waiting until her whole marriage-thing was cleared up before telling her about the imprinting would be a good idea. When it came to the sexual part of my problem Quil and the younger wolves agreed I should, "tap that whenever you want 'cause she is your imprint and she totally wants it!" I threw Brady into the trees for that comment.

The one thing they all agreed on was I should tell her I was a wolf. That, I was not expecting.

"_She's already seen you,"_ Seth mentioned. "_She wasn't scared. If anything, she looked fascinated. Tala thinks Abby knows already. You know…that feeling they have."_ He was referring to our imprints and how we can't hide anything from them.

"_Abby's out with Emily, Tala, and Leah today," _Sam contributed. "_One of them is going to slip and wouldn't you rather she hear it from you?"_

"_I don't know you guys," _I was skeptical, "_I don't want her to freak out when she has so much other stuff going on in her life right now."_

"_Think about all the other times we've told our imprints the truth," _Seth said and suddenly every brother who had imprinted was mentally sending me pictures. There was a variety of reactions from the imprints – shock and awe, fainting, giggles and hugs – but none of them were appalled. Every single one of them accepted the wolf as a part of their life.

"_You know she's gonna be cool with it, dude."_ Quil was thinking about Claire and her first horsey ride on a gigantic wolf when she was a little girl. "_If a three-year-old can handle it…" _his thoughts trailed off and we all swiftly got a glimpse of Claire's growing cleavage. There were multiple replies from the group.

"_Awe man!"_

"_That's Claire!?"_

"_Stop_…"

"_She's getting hot!" _Brady got pummeled again for that comment.

"_Sorry guys."_ Quil apologized with a hint of shame in his thought for thinking that way about his teenage imprint.

Thankfully the focus shifted away from me and my girl problems to Quil and his.

********

As promised, I grabbed Collin, Brady, and Quil after patrol and took off for Abigail's house. We had all the supplies to fix up the hole in the dining room and wanted to get it done before Craig was released from jail. Since Abigail wasn't living there anymore he was allowed to return to his home. They were only allowed to contact each other through their attorneys so Abby made sure she gave me a list of personal items she needed me to sneak out of the house. I had no problem taking anything that rightfully belonged to Abby.

As I looked through the house for the items on the list I happened to notice that not one piece of furniture or one decorative item looked like it belonged to Abby. It was a very manly house without the slight touch of femininity. Once I took out the items Abby requested—her favorite blanket from the couch, her stash of personal family pictures from her room, her grandmother's antique vase from the dining room (luckily that didn't smash in the wolf wreckage)—the house looked like a total bachelor pad. I wondered if she was even allowed to put her own touches in the decorating.

It took most of the day, but we finally finished fixing the dining room. If it wasn't for the fresh smell of paint and cut pine you wouldn't even have known there was any construction completed. The Quileute boys became good at carpentry over the years. There were times when a kid would lose his temper and phase into a gigantic wolf inside his own home. Many of the homes were too small to accommodate one of us and some damage would be done.

The best part of the day was that Craig never showed up. Charlie let me know he was getting released and would probably make his way home, but he never did. I anticipated that confrontation. The other guys were on high alert every time a car ventured down the street, ready to contain my beast within. But the Corvette never made an appearance. I hoped Craig did something stupid again and landed another night in jail.

I also hoped Craig would see that his house looked untouched and thought he was actually going crazy and the wolf home invasion never happened. All I knew was there were four other witnesses to the attack and each one them could testifying against Craig and his crazy delusions. Well, actually, I wasn't sure what the fourth person, Abby, would state under oath if needed. That was another reason I needed to inform her of my wolf side. She needed to know she wasn't seeing things and she needed to know that our existence was a big secret.

********

"Abby, we need to talk." I said as soon as Abby came home from spending the day with Tala and the other women. I was nervous about revealing my wolf secret to her. I ran through the conversation in my head several times, but it was hard to think of something to say since I wasn't sure her reaction would be.

"Okay," Abby dragged out the one word. She carefully sat her things down and took a seat. She looked worried so I flashed a tense smile to ease her concerns. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah everything is great," I assured her. I quickly continued before I lost my nerve. "Me and the guys fixed up your house today. You can't even tell anything happened to it. It's all ready to move in."

I paused trying to figure out whether to just blurt out my confession, but Abby interpreted my pause as something else.

"Oh." She responded quietly. "Chief Swan said that since I was living here Craig was going back to the house, but I'll call Tala to see if I can move in there until I find something else." Abby looked down at her hands on the table in disappointment. She thought I wanted her move out.

"Oh! No no no. That's not what I was getting at," I automatically grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it trying to back up my words. Abby's eyes met mine and I smiled. I couldn't help but give her a goofy grin when she looked at me like that. Her huge hazel eyes looked hopeful when I assured her I didn't want her to leave. "You can stay as long as you want. I like having you here…really."

I could see Abby's posture relax and she gave me a small smile and squeezed my hand in return. I released her hand and stood up to pace the kitchen. Pacing helped calm my nerves. I didn't fidget so much when I walked. I could feel Abby's eyes watching me the entire time. When I would look up at her face she would give me a shy smile.

Flurry the cat had made an entrance, probably hearing his owner's voice. He jumped up into Abby's lap and purred when Abby started to stroke his head.

"So, you have no questions about the incident at your house?" I finally asked. "You're not curious about that huge ball of fur that sat in your dining room?"

Abby shrugged and shook her head. "Well yeah, I'm not oblivious to what happened, but I figured they would fill me in someday."

"They?"

"Seth and Sam. I've heard the legends about the wolves and if they have one they are harboring then it's not my place to be all nosey about it," Abby talked as though it was a normal occurrence.

"It didn't scare you?"

"At first I was startled because it came crashing through the window," she began, "but after that it was strange. It's like I felt really calm next to it. There was this odd comfort. I just had that feeling that it wouldn't hurt me. Like it was protecting me," she was looking down at her hands again with a smile on her face as she continued to pet Flurry. "I was more afraid of my husband to tell you the truth."

A low rumble started to build from my chest as I thought about the anger that flowed from Craig's body towards my Abby. The way Abby's face looked so frightened when he yelled at her.

"You're growling again," Abby said with a small voice.

"That was me," I finally blurted out my confession.

"I know, Flurry doesn't make that sound," Abby replied. I looked up at her confused.

"No. The gray wolf in your kitchen…was me," I clarified.

Abby's head snapped up and gave me her own confused look. Once my words finally sunk in she whispered, "What?"

"_I'm_ a wolf. Well…I'm human…but I can turn into a wolf," I stammered a reply. She continued to look at me in disbelief. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I was there when _he_ was yelling at you and then when he shoved the table at you…I couldn't take it anymore. I had to step in. When my temper is out of control I burst into my wolf form. Sam was sending me a command to not touch Craig in any way or else I don't know what I would've done…"

I continued blurting my confession and I was sure none of it made any sense. I didn't get the nerve to look into her eyes. I was sure she was appalled and confused.

"Wait!" Abby said stopping my rant. When I looked up at her she didn't look appalled, but a little confused. She actually had a smile on her face. She looked as though she was trying to work it all out in her head. I stood quietly letting her mull it over.

"Well that makes perfect sense," she finally said softly and then looked up at me and blushed. I didn't think she meant to say that out loud, but I knew what she meant. She had the same feelings towards the wolf as she had with me. When she admitted she felt calm, comfortable, and protected around the wolf, she was admitting that she felt the same with me.

"You're not afraid?" I asked trying to ignore her comment.

"No," Abby shook her head.

"You believe me?" I was amazed at how well she was taking this. I knew all the other imprints took the news well, but I thought eventually one of them would freak out and run out the door screaming. Apparently not Abby.

"I'm not sure why, but…yeah, yeah I do." Abby let out a nervous giggle. "How?" She asked.

"I don't know the magic behind it, but it's been in our genes for hundreds of years. Now that you know you'll be invited to a tribal meeting and you'll hear all about our legends."

I told her the reason she would be invited to the meeting was because she had witnessed the wolf and was now allowed to know our legends. I avoided explaining anything that involved being an imprint. I informed her that there were few who knew, not even my mom was in on it, and she couldn't let anyone else know. She asked me a lot of questions and I tried to answer them as best I could.

"This is crazy," Abby giggled and she ran her hands through her hair. "You know you're gonna have to show me, right?"

"But you've seen me." I eyed her skeptically.

"I'm not going to believe it unless you show me. Is it gross?"

"No!" For some reason I was offended by that. My reaction only made Abby laugh. "It happens so quickly that if you blink you'll miss it."

"Come on," Abby grabbed my hand and led me outside.

"Now?"

"Yep. There's still a small part of me that thinks you are messing with me for some reason, so you better put my mind at ease."

Abby had led me out to the backyard. The moonlight gave enough light in the evening for the revealing. Abby dropped my hand and was standing in front of me with her arms crossed as she tapped her foot impatiently.

"Do it."

"Ok, ok. But I promise you it's not that exciting," I said as I took off my shoes.

When I stripped off my shirt I was close enough to hear Abby's heartbeat quicken. I looked up at her face and noticed her eyes scanning my chest and stomach.

"I need to take off my pants too," I gave her a shy smile. I wasn't sure why I was embarrassed. I would gladly remove my clothes for her for other reasons. "My clothes will shred," I explained when her eyes widened.

"Oh!" Abby squeaked. "Ok…I'll just keep my eyes…" she stuttered as she motioned her hand back and forth at her eye level.

I quickly slipped off my pants and I noticed Abby's heartbeat was pounding loudly. She was gnawing on her lip and I could tell she was trying to keep her eyes from taking in the scenery. Naturally Abby had gravitated towards me. When I asked her to back up she gave me a nervous giggle and apologized.

"Ok, here it goes," I said right before I burst into the big gray wolf with black spots.

"Holy shit!" I heard Abby gasp. Then she started to laugh. "Ok I _totally_ believe you!"

She slowly approached me and started to lift her hand to pet my head, but hesitated. "Is this alright?" I nodded my head.

"You can't talk like this?" she asked. I shook my head 'no.' Abby gently wove her fingers into the fur on my head and scratched behind my ears like she does to Flurry. I made a little humming sound because it did feel damn good. The hum made her giggle. Then I felt her bury her head into the fur of my neck. That was unexpected. I leaned into her cuddling and allowed her to stroke me like her pet. Her hands trailed through my fur along my long back and made me skin crawl under her touch, but in a good way. I shuddered because I was enjoying it a little too much. I felt myself getting a too excited, which had never happened to me in wolf form before. I quickly trotted away from her towards my clothes and phased back to my human form.

"Ok, that's enough for today," I said. I quickly got dressed and I tried to hide the product of her touching.

"Sorry, was that too much?" she asked innocently. "It's hard to believe you're a human under all that. I like animals."

"That was just fine." I said as I tried to calm myself down. "It's just that I'm not comfortable out in the open just in case someone comes over." I lied. "Come on. I'll make us some dinner." I said as I turned away from her and hurried in the house.

"You know, I've always wanted a dog," Abby giggled.

"Ha ha. Funny," I replied with a smirk.

* * *

Ok, so now she knows. Where will it go from here??? I love reviews so please give me your opinions. Have a great weekend!


	9. Chapter 9

**What? Another Chapter? I know, crazy. Enjoy!**

Monday morning came and it was back to work for Abby and me. Spending the weekend with her was great, but the awkward tension between us needed a little break. I didn't get much sleep the night before. My mind was racing, debating with myself whether to continue to hide my feelings for her or to just spill the beans. The fact that she was in the other room, on the other side of the wall, cuddled under the blankets in her cute pajamas made it hard to sleep as well. God I wanted to slip right in next to her and cuddle up against her. _I bet I would sleep_ _well then._

Abby had easily accepted the wolf part of me just as the other guys predicted. During dinner she asked me question after question about being a wolf. I filled her in on the other members of the pack. She was excited to hear about the legends and ecstatic when I reminded her that she would hear the legends from the actual elders at a council meeting. She wasn't frightened by me at all. If anything she seemed to be more turned on. Abby seemed to come out of her shell a little too and became more confident. Maybe it was because she was more comfortable around me. She wasn't much of the shy young woman I met only days before. She seemed to know just what would get me all worked up and turned on. Abby started to flirt with me and I'm pretty sure she was intentional about it. Intentional or not, it was driving me insane.

When seven o'clock a.m. rolled around my hand instantly tapped the snooze button…several times. By the times by mind decided it was time to wake up, I peeked at the time. It was 7:45 a.m. I was due into work at eight o'clock. I groaned and quickly jumped out of bed and made it across the hall to the bathroom door. My head was still in a sleepy haze and when I opened the door I didn't realize someone was already in there.

Through the cloud of steam and the glass of the shower door, my eyes fell upon the most stunning sight I've ever seen. A very wet and very naked Abigail was in the shower washing her hair. Her hands ran through her long hair rinsing out the shampoo. The movement made her back arch and I got a great side view of her perky little ass and her right breast that looked like it would fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. I felt my fingers flex as I imagined cupping her tits in my hand.

I stood there like a hormonal teenager and literally drooled. But I couldn't move. I was frozen in place. I willed my legs to turn around and move, but they wouldn't listen. Now I was a _perverted_ peeping tom.

"Embry!?" Abby gasped. She had turned to turn off the shower and must've seen me standing there.

Her gasp snapped me out of my trance and my eyes fell to the floor. "Sorry!" I apologized lamely as I wiped the spittle from my chin. "I…I was late and I rushed in and didn't even knock…" That was not an excuse for why I was still standing there. _Get the hell out of there pervert._

"That's ok," Abby replied. "You scared the crap out of me." By this time she was already wrapped in a towel and stepping out of the shower. The humidity in the room only intensified the vanilla and cinnamon aroma that I loved so much.

"I'm sorry. I should've waked you up. I assumed you were downstairs waiting for me," She said as she grabbed her things off the counter and tried to step around me. I looked up from the floor and met her gaze. "I think I used all the hot water," her eyes quickly darted down to the tent in my pajama bottoms that I was totally unaware of until just then, "but I think a cold shower will do you some good," she smirked as she tapped my arm and padded to her room.

_Busted. Damn loose pajama bottoms._

********

The entire day I daydreamed out Abby and her naked body. It took me twice as long to change the friggin' oil on a '94 Chevy as it should have. I wasn't very productive at all. After my cold shower that morning that I certainly needed, I rushed down the stairs to the kitchen. Abby had whipped up a quick breakfast sandwich for me while she waited and I ate it in the car. It was delicious and I made sure to tell her that several times, since I practically ate it in two bites.

We were really talkative on the short ride to work, but she never once brought up the incident in the bathroom, thankfully. I dropped her off early, since she wasn't supposed to be there for another half hour, and noticed a couple of her co-workers and a mom gaping at me. I groaned a little. _Great. The rumor mill would be on fire today._

"Don't worry about them. I don't care what people think." She seemed to read my mind. And as if she needed to prove her point, Abby quickly leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Have a nice day Embry!" she yelled over her shoulder when she stepped out of the car.

So, along with that kiss that had been burning a hole on the side of my face all day and the picture of Abby's wet body running through my mind, I was utterly useless as a mechanic. I had to make sure to keep that image from invading my thoughts while Brady was linked to my mind. God knows what would come out of his mouth after seeing that. That horny kid seriously needed an imprint.

"Yo Em!" Brady snapped me out of my thoughts. Speak of the Devil…

"Huh?" I grunted a reply. Oil was seeping all over the place and I hadn't even noticed. "Shit."

"Distracted?" Brady asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Don't even start," I gave him a warning glare. "What do you want?"

Brady chuckled, but didn't push any further. "Sam called. He's giving Allen a bachelor party next weekend."

"What? Allen doesn't seem like the type to want a bachelor party." Allen was a little whipped and a little nerdy. It was pretty clear Leah wore the pants in that relationship. I think Leah chose him because she hung out with us brutes all the time. I'm pretty sure we turned her off from the whole tall, dark and handsome image. Allen was intimidated by us because, basically, Leah had several huge, overprotective brothers. Having a party in his honor would be a riot.

"Seth and Sam are pushing for it. Seth's making Charlie go too," Brady added.

"Oh that should be fun," I said sarcastically. Seth's step-father Charlie knew about us wolves and witnessed us on occasion, but he was still a little skittish when the pack got together to party. I wasn't sure what he thought we would end up doing, but I'm thinking it involved howling at the moon or ripping apart a herd of deer.

"Yeah, with those two we're going to have to tone down the whole wolf thing a bit," Brady chuckled. "Oh! I'm gonna have to look into a stripper!"

"No! Leah would kill you." I glared up at him.

"Just because you all have imprints doesn't mean I can't have any fun…" Brady huffed and mumbled as he walked to the other side of the shop.

*****

After an unproductive day it was time to head home. I decided I would stop by my mother's house since she invited me over for dinner. I wasn't in a hurry to get home since Abby wouldn't be there right away. Tala was picking her up to do some more wedding stuff for Leah. Tala and Abby seemed to get along great and it helped to know Abby had someone to talk to, other than me, about the crap that she had been dealing with. Every time she would bring up her abusive, asshole husband I got all pissed off. With Tala, Abby didn't have to worry about her bursting into a deranged canine who wanted to rip off Craig's head.

"What, no Abby?" my mom asked, disappointment in her eyes as I walked in her front door for dinner.

"She's with Tala doing wedding stuff." I replied with kiss to my mom's cheek. "Spill it, what did you hear?" I knew rumors were probably flying all day and my mom heard everything since she worked at one of two stores in La Push.

"I heard you were necking in the car at the daycare."

"What?! No! We were not. But seriously, _necking_? Mom, you're not _that_ old." I grumbled as I sat down at her kitchen table. She continued to work around me and ask questions.

"Ok, then what's going on? She's married you know."

"Yes, I'm fully aware of that. You heard what happened though. He attacked her and she doesn't want to go back."

"He attacked her?" Mom asked quietly. She sat down in the chair next to me. Her face was full of concern. Surprisingly _that_ story didn't make it through the rumor mill.

"Yeah, he slammed her around. Charlie arrested him for domestic abuse." I glossed over the fact that I crashed through Abby's house and almost killed the bastard.

Mom patted her hand on mine. She was looking at me trying to read my face. "You care for her, don't you?" she asked after her observation. I nodded with a sigh.

"She's living at my house." I blurted out. I wasn't sure if Mom knew that already but I wanted her to know.

"Oh yeah?" she replied with a raise of her eyebrow. There was a hint of objection in that look.

"Before you get all motherly on me, she has her own room, she doesn't ever want to go back to her house, she has no one else and…" I paused with a sigh, "I want her there," I confessed. I rubbed my hands over my face frustrated that I couldn't tell my mother anything else. I couldn't tell her that I needed her there.

"Oh sweetie," she said as she pulled me into a hug and kissed my head. "Just be careful with her. I'm sure she's vulnerable and scared right now."

"I know."

******

Sitting in my driveway was a little red Corvette. Unfortunately Prince didn't rattle through my brain at the time. Instead it was fury and rage and fear that Craig was in _my _house, hurting my Abby. I pulled into my yard, because my driveway was still a few feet away, and launch myself out of my car.

I was half way to the front door when I heard Tala's angry voice yell "Get out!" and at the same time Craig flew out the door and landed on his ass. The front door immediately slammed shut behind him. Unfortunately for Craig, he landed by my feet. I peered down at him trying to control my anger. My body shook and I had my hands clenched in fists at my side.

"What are you doing here?" I growled through my teeth. Craig looked up at me; he looked startled that I was standing there. His eyes took in my size and he nervously decided to try to get up. Probably to flee. Coward.

"Are you the one fucking my wife?" he gave me a cocky grin. Nope, guess he wasn't afraid of me. I had to change that. I picked him up by his shirt and crashed his body against his precious Corvette. I'm pretty sure I dented the hood.

"No one is _fucking_ your wife," I seethed. My body trembled so hard that I was shaking Craig too. I could hear his shirt tearing under my grip. "You better get the hell out of here and leave her alone."

"Or what? You'll sic that vicious mutt on me?" he glared into my eyes. This dick was testing my patience and that wasn't smart with a shapeshifter.

"Trust me; you don't want the wolf to come out. No one's here to prevent it from killing you this time."

Suddenly I felt a force pull me towards the house. I looked up to see Tala and Abby standing in the front door. Tala gave me a warning glance and Abby had total fear in her eyes. The look on Abby's face helped me to calm down. I didn't like that she saw me lose my temper.

I didn't fight Tala's pull and let go of Craig's shirt. I kept glaring at him the entire time and tuned out his screams and accusations until he made his way in the driver's seat of the Corvette and drove off. Tala's telekinetic pull ended when Craig was out of the driveway.

As soon as I made it through the door Abby launched herself at me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. I was caught by surprise and it took me a second to wrap my arms around her to hold her up. When I finally did, she started to cry.

"Shhh…" I tried to sooth her by rubbing her back but it only seemed to make her cry harder and grip me tighter.

"I'm gonna call Charlie," Tala informed me and slipped into the kitchen.

I made my over to the couch and sat down still holding on to Abby's small body. It was really nice to sit and hold her against me. She was straddling my lap, which I decided wasn't a good idea, so I adjusted her and cradled her in my arms.

"Are you ok?" I asked as I grabbed her arms and inspected them. I lifted her chin up to examine her face. I didn't see anything unusual. Abby nodded as the tears streamed down her face. "What happened? What did he do?" I could feel my anger start to build up again. A slight tremble started in my chest. Abby must have felt it because her hand slid up to my neck and she soothed me by playing with my hair.

"Nothing. He barged in yelling and accusing me of adultery," she dropped her head in shame. I lifted her chin back up and rubbed her cheek with my thumb.

"You haven't done anything wrong," I assured her.

"I know, but I," she stopped and let out a sigh. "I know." I could tell she wanted to say more, but she laid her head on my chest instead.

"How did he know you were here?" I asked.

"I don't know," she mumbled.

Tala came in the room to inform us that Charlie was going to arrest Craig, again, for breaking the No Contact Order. Apparently that alone could put him in jail for at least a year.

"What the hell Tala?!" Abby shouted and looked at Tala as if she just remembered something. Tala and I both looked at Abby, stunned by her comment. Was she pissed Tala called the police on her husband? "Did you do that…push thing…to Craig?"

"Oh!" Tala sighed in relief when she realized Abby was referring to Craig flying through the front door. She gave Abby a sheepish smile. "I'm telekinetic. He wasn't going to get near you with me around."

"Pretty cool, huh?" I said proudly of my cousin's ability.

Abby just shook her head with a giggle. "You guys are freaks. But I like it!" Tala and I shrugged and nodded our heads in agreement. We had accepted the fact that we, along with most of our friends and family, were not normal. We liked it that way too.

**I had fun with this chapter. Craig better watch out! He doesn't know who he's messin' with.**

**Review please!!**


	10. Chapter 10

**It's my daughter's birthday today. She's 5! So I thought I would celebrate by posting another chapter. If I get a lot of reviews I'll post again on Friday! Yes, I'm trying to bribe you.**

* * *

"It was friggin' Jenny Collins!" Abby practically screamed and slammed the door when she climbed into my car. "Stupid bitch!" Her face was red and the scowl on her face was too cute that I had to stop myself from laughing. I'd never seen her so angry before. "It's a good thing there were children in there…"

"What are you talking about?" I asked trying to keep a straight face. I pulled out of the daycare as I listened to Abby fume next to me.

"Jenny Collins," she said again. She was giving me a look like I should know who she referred to.

"Ok. Who's that?"

"She's the slut-bag who's spreading a bunch of rumors about me," Abby replied, her face still red with rage. After I heard the word 'slut-bag' I let out a laugh, but cut it short when Abby glared at me.

"How do you know that?" I asked after I contained my laughter. She launched into her story.

"During the kids' nap time Andrea was telling me that she overheard Jenny and Sam talking about something and she heard Jenny say my name. When she asked them what they were talking about Jenny told them that she heard I left my husband for you and that I was taking Craig for all the money he had. Then Andrea thought she should let me know and when I confronted Jenny about it she didn't deny a thing. Apparently, her husband and Craig are good friends, which I didn't even know about, and that's what Craig was telling everyone." Abby seemed to get that out all in one breath.

"Breath." I instructed. Abby drew in a long slow breath but it didn't seem to calm her down any. I could see that her eyes were filling up with angry tears and her chin started to quiver.

"Hey," I said as I placed my hand on her face. Abby seemed to relax as she pressed up against my hand. "I thought you didn't care what other people thought."

"I don't," Abby sighed. "My _real _friends don't think of me that way. I just wish all this bullcrap was over."

"Maybe this will make you feel better," I said as I tossed her a legal sized envelope from the back seat. It was thick so I assumed it contained the forms from her lawyer that Abby needed to petition for a divorce. She had met with an attorney the previous week after Craig showed up at the house. That incident was the last straw for her.

"Oh, thank God!" Abby sighed in relief. "This can't happen fast enough!" She opened the envelope and sifted through the papers. "Will you help me with all this later?"

"Of course." I smiled.

Normally the whole divorce process seemed sad and emotional. But with Abby every new form she started to fill out brought out her anger. I guess anger is an emotion, but I was prepared for crying and reminiscing over her marriage with Craig. Not the loathing and cussing that came from her when she remembered all the bad things that happened after she married him.

"I don't want anything," she yelled at the form in front of her regarding property disposal. "He can have everything. It's not worth it."

"There isn't anything in the house you want?"

"Nope. You grabbed the last of the stuff I really wanted. Everything else is his or in his name. I would have to go to another court proceeding to get anything else."

"What about alimony?" I asked when I looked over the spousal support form. Personally, I thought she should get some money out of him since he diminished her college fund.

"Don't want it," she stated point-blank as she continued to write things down on the paper in front of her.

"Name change?" I held up the form. I was hoping this form she would take.

Her head snapped up, "Hell yea. Give me that," she said as she snatched it from my hand.

"I just realized that I don't even know your maiden name," I admitted.

Abby looked up at me and smiled. "Smith. Pretty generic, huh?"

"Learn something new about you every day." I smiled back.

After a few hours of filling out paper work Abby was finally finished. She gathered everything she needed to mail back to the attorney and threw it back in the envelope. Her petition for divorce would officially be filed by the end of the week. She seemed so relieved. Now she had to wait for Craig's response before the process could move along. Abby assumed he would accept her terms since she didn't want anything else from him, but she also worried he would reject them just to be an ass.

"Let's celebrate," she said as she spun around from the counter.

"You want to celebrate your upcoming divorce?" I asked her skeptically.

"Yes. Yes I do," her reply was certain.

"Ok. What do you want to do?" I smirked at her enthusiasm.

"Let's just watch a movie a guess," she shrugged.

"We're becoming a couple of shut-ins you know. Besides work, we never leave this house."

"Until all this is cleared up," she waved her hand at the envelope containing her divorce papers, "I don't want to be seen with you in public too much."

"Ouch," I feigned disappointment.

"Awe, you know what I mean," she said and wrapped her arms around my waist to give me a tight hug.

Abby had been living with me for almost two weeks. We were getting a lot closer and we seemed to deal with the sexual tension between us better than in the first few days. Although she still liked to tease me quite a bit, she kept it innocent for the most part. I think she realized I was trying to be a gentleman about the whole situation. Her flirting changed over to more affectionate touches and hugs. It didn't matter. Both actions tested my limits when it came to keeping my hands in the appropriate places. So this hug I was receiving was pushing it, but I couldn't let her go.

"Ferris Bueller?" she finally asked when she strained her neck to look up at me.

"Love that movie. He's my hero," I replied.

We watched the movie in our usual position on the couch, lying down spooned together. After a few days of starting the evening side by side on the couch, and then ending up cuddled next to each other, we decided to start out in the embrace and get it over it. It became my favorite part of the day and I looked forward to it.

It was hard to concentrate on the movie and watch Ferris con his way out of crazy situations when the woman I loved more than anything was pressed up against my body. What would be so wrong if I turned Abby around and kissed her? I was certain she would be fine with it. The only reason I held back before was because I didn't want my actions to influence her decision whether she stayed with her husband or not. I wanted her to be happy. She seemed happy with me. Abby had filed divorce papers. She flirted with me or showed affection constantly. What the hell was I waiting for now?

Cameron's father's car crashed through the showroom glass into the depths of the woods below. Abby laughed out loud and glanced back at me.

"That gets me every time," she giggled. Abby did a double-take when she noticed I was staring at her and not the television. Her giggles died down and she stared back with concern on her face. I'm not sure how my face looked, but she decided to twist her body to face me.

"Embry, what's wrong?" She asked softly. Abby lifted her hand to my cheek. When her hand made contact with my face the sparks that reminded me of our connection gave me all the confidence I needed.

"Abby, I –" I stopped myself and growled because I wasn't sure what to say. Instead, I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers. Abby squeaked in response, but instantly kissed me back. Her lips were so soft and her mouth tasted amazing. _What the hell took me so long to do this? I should have been doing this all along._ I had one arm holding my weight while the other hand gripped her side just below her chest. My thumb grazed the bottom of her breast. I could feel the underwire of her bra. It took a lot of strength to keep my hand from creeping up any further.

Abby's hands made their way towards my back and she pulled me closer to her until my body was crushing hers. I tried to pull away, afraid to hurt her, but she held me there. I needed a breather to calm myself down. Every grip from her hands and moan from her throat got me even more excited. I moved my mouth to her jaw and trailed kisses down her neck taking in deep breaths at the same time to slow myself down.

"Embry?" Abby breathed and continued to rub my back.

"Mmm hmm," I hummed into her ear while I pressed my lips against the soft spot behind her ear.

"What's going on?" she asked with a wispy giggle.

"I'm kissing you. Is that alright?" I mumbled into her skin and it made her shiver. I smiled, glad I gave her such a reaction.

"It's about time," she sighed and seemed to melt into the couch.

I pulled myself up and looked at her with a shy smile. "I'm sorry. I've wanted to since the moment I saw you, but I didn't want to take advantage of a married woman."

"Me too. I kept giving you subtle hints," she gave me a mischievous grin.

"Not so subtle," I groaned. "You drive me crazy."

"Good. Mmm…"Abby hummed and pulled me towards her. "So sweet," she said between kisses. "Totally worth the wait."

We continued our kissing session well after the final credits from the movie were rolling on the television screen. I kept all the action above Abby's shoulders and kept my death grip on her side. I didn't dare move my mouth or hands out of the safety zones knowing I'd totally lose it and end up ripping her clothes off if I did. Abby seemed to be happy just making out, which was good because if she would've pushed any further I may have given in. _Too soon Embry, too soon._

"I should probably let you go to bed. We both have to work tomorrow," I said regretfully.

"Uhhhh…but I'm having so much fun," Abby groaned and made an attempt to keep me on top of her. "And you're so warm." Her body instantly gave away her tiredness when she stretched and let out a huge yawn.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," I chuckled. I picked her up off the couch and carried her up the stairs to her room.

"Stay with me?" she looked up at me with hooded eyes when I sat her down on the bed. Her messy hair and puffy lips made her look extra sexy and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to restrain myself.

"That's probably not a good idea." I chuckled and pulled the covers up to her shoulders and tucked her in when I noticed her body shiver. I didn't like setting her in a cold bed when she had been pressed up against my 108 degree body for the last two hours.

"Ok," she said with a smile and a hint of disappointment in her tone. "Can I get just one more kiss?" she asked with the most adorable expression on her face.

"Of course," I hovered over her to kiss her quickly before getting trapped in her arms again. But Abby was quicker. She wrapped her arms around me and slipped her tongue in my mouth which made me moan and almost give in again. It physically hurt to pull myself off of her body. I wanted to give her anything she wanted. But she was too tired to protest.

"You're evil woman," I sighed.

Abby had a lazy smile on her face and her eyes were closed. "Night Embry."

"Good night." I replied, but I'm sure she was already asleep.

*******

The smell of bacon and cheese wafted up to my bedroom and it made my stomach growl. I started to stir and stretch. Before I opened my eyes I felt a pair of warm lips press down on my jaw. The vanilla and cinnamon aroma started to stir something else. I quickly grabbed the blanket and covered myself from the waist down.

"Good morning Embry," Abby practically sang and wiggled the bed in an attempt to wake me up. I chuckled at her enthusiasm and pulled her into a hug.

"Mornin'. Did you make breakfast?" I asked with my mouth in Abby's hair.

"Yep, unless you had something else in mind with what you're hiding under the covers." I could feel her smiling into my chest.

"When did you become such a naughty girl?" I groaned and squeezed her tighter.

"I don't know. You bring it out in me I guess. I don't usually act like this," she said with a nervous giggle. I looked down at Abby's crimson cheeks and grinned.

"That's ok, I'm not complainin'," I kissed her quick and picked her up off the bed. "Come on, let's go eat." I tossed Abby over my shoulder and gave her ass a quick smack…I couldn't help it. Abby yelped in response, but giggled the entire way down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Well good morning!" Tala's voice rang through the kitchen, as she witnessed our friskiness. She stood in the kitchen with a knowing smirk on her face with Vanessa right by her side.

"Oh, hello," I replied and gently placed Abby on her feet. Abby looked embarrassed when she noticed our guest and gave a small smile and a wave. When Vanessa realized who was thrown over my shoulder she ran towards Abby and gave her a hug.

"Miss Abby!!" Vanessa squealed. "Momma's gonna have a baby!" Abby and I snapped our heads in Tala's direction.

Tala's smile looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, it's true, but I wasn't going to tell anyone until the next tribal council meeting. I'm only ten weeks along," Tala told us and then looked down at Vanessa. "You were supposed to keep it a surprise Little Missy." She smiled at Vanessa and ruffled her hair.

"Sorry Momma," Vanessa said with a mischievous smile.

"That's ok sweetie," Tala cooed and smooched Vanessa on the cheek.

"Congratulations Tal," I grabbed Tala for a hug. I knew she and Seth wanted another baby soon. When the wolves tried for offspring, we rarely had any problems. We think it has something to do with our imprint being chosen to provide future wolves if needed.

When I glanced over at Abby her smile didn't look cheerful. When she noticed I was looking at her, she perked up a little and gave Tala her own congratulations. Abby didn't do the usual girl excitement-things—squealing or asking all the motherly questions—I had expected and she immediately changed the subject.

"Vanessa, would you like some breakfast?" Abby asked. Vanessa nodded her head enthusiastically. Abby dished out some scrambled eggs for Vanessa and sprinkled them with cheese.

"Abby, I came over to see if you wanted to help out with the flowers for Leah's wedding," Vanessa asked while she chomped on some bacon.

"Oh, yeah," Abby looked up at Tala with surprise. "I would love to. But that gives me, like, what, two weeks?"

"Does that give you enough time? Leah knows exactly what she wants so it shouldn't be a problem. And she liked your ideas with the decorating," Tala continued.

"That should enough time," Abby agreed.

"Good. Leah will be relieved. Would you be able to run to Port Angeles with us after work today to check out a few things?"

Abby glanced in my direction with a bashful smile. I had a feeling she was eager to come home to me. I returned her smile. Tala noticed the exchange.

"I won't keep you long…I promise," Tala assured with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah," Abby chuckled, "that's fine."

"Oh yeah, we're having a bachelorette party for Leah. It's the same night as the guys' bachelor party," Tala mentioned. "You're coming, right?" she asked Abby.

"Oooh, of course!" Abby practically danced with excitement.

"That sounds like fun." I said sarcastically as I thought of the possible things the Den Mothers would do to get into mischief.

"Hey, it's no howling at the moon, but we'll have a good time I'm sure," Tala teased. I rolled my eyes at her assumption. Tala's comment made Abby laugh out loud.

"Uncle Embry, what's a beech-ler-tet party?" Vanessa asked with a mouth full of eggs and a milk mustache.

"It's when a bunch of big girls get together and act like little girls." I smirked.

"Can I come?" Vanessa asked her mother.

"No," Tala replied and gave me a dirty look. Vanessa pouted. "You're going to Claire's."

"Yay!" Vanessa forgot all about the party. Claire was one of her favorite people.

********

"I didn't know you could do flowers and decorations and stuff," I told Abby on our way to work. Abby seemed pretty quiet after Tala left so I tried to get her talking.

"My mom taught me," she smiled at the memory. "When I was little she would always throw these elaborate birthday parties with all sorts of decorations. Every year would have a different theme, but she always had flowers."

"Your birthday is June 17, right?" I asked. Abby looked up and gave me an inquisitive look. "I saw it on the documents last night," I clarified.

"You are correct. There were always a lot of flowers available in June," she continued. "The flowers' colors would match the theme. When I was old enough she showed me how to put them together and I would help." Abby's thoughts seemed far away and she had a melancholy smile on her face.

"You were pretty spoiled then, huh?" I teased, trying to perk up her mood.

"Yes I was," she giggled. "I was the only child so I pretty much got whatever I wanted. But I wasn't a brat!" Abby swatted my arm when I gave her a doubtful look. "I wasn't," she laughed.

"Speaking of kids," I changed the subject remembering Abby's reaction to Tala's pregnancy, "what do you think about Seth and Tala having another baby?"

Abby's face changed back to a sad smile. "That's great. I'm really happy for them." Abby's glanced out the window so I couldn't see her face.

"I know they wanted a couple kids, so that's cool."

Abby was still looking out the passenger window. Her breathing seemed a little unsteady and right before I was going to ask her if she was ok she turned around to face me. Her eyes were slightly watered.

"Do you want kids?" she asked with a smile and a little quiver in her voice.

I nodded my head. I was a little concerned with her behavior, but I answered honestly. "Yeah…lots."

Abby nodded her head and smiled before she looked back out the car window.

* * *

**Let's say it all together now..."FINALLY!" Dang, Embry's slow. Tell me what you think. You know I love to hear from you! Come on...it's my daughter's birthday! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow! The power of bribery. I'm holding up to my end of the deal because I received SEVEN reviews for that last chapter. **

**Thanks for the birthday wishes for my daughter. My husband's was the 11****th**** so we're all birthday'd out. Happy birthday to parrotchic! Here's another chapter-gift for you. It was quite the week to celebrate!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! It's one of my favorites.**

Something was bothering Abby and I wasn't sure what that something was. There were a lot of things going on in her personal life with the divorce, but she seemed to be taking it all in stride. Our relationship had changed slightly. Since we made the first step towards a relationship, I had hoped she would know that I was behind her every step of the way. We didn't actually have that type of conversation. We only kissed on the couch. We didn't take it any further. When Abby asked me what was going on between breaths during our make-out session, I never did tell her my feelings for her. We didn't get a chance to talk about what happened since then either. When I dropped her off at work that morning she kissed me on the cheek as usual. I probably should have talked to her about what we did. I didn't want her thinking I was in it for the physical part only. _Dumbass._

The part that I was focused on was how Abby seemed to get upset when Tala brought up her pregnancy. Even when I brought it up in the car she seemed to get quiet. She looked as though she was fighting off tears. For a moment I thought maybe she didn't want children, but I knew she loved kids because of the twinkle in her eye when she talked about work or how she wanted to be a teacher. But I guess that didn't necessarily mean she wanted children of her own. If Abby didn't want kids, I'd be ok with that. As long as I was with Abby for the rest of my life, then I would be happy.

Another thought that entered my brain was that Abby wasn't able to have children. That thought left quickly because there would be no way I would imprint on a woman who couldn't bear my children and carry on the wolf gene. After all, isn't that what the whole imprinting phenomenon was about? As wolves we found our mates, have babies and those babies would grow up to become wolves if the protection was needed…as long as vampires were around.

But then again, if having babies to carry on the gene is the reason we imprint, then why are there not more females in the pack family? Leah was our only female wolf. Jake's sisters, Rachel and Rebecca, weren't wolves and they had as many wolf genes then Leah did. Did that mean Vanessa and all the other female offspring could be potential wolves because their fathers imprinted on their mothers? Maybe we weren't all supposed to have wolf offspring.

"What the hell are you concentrating so hard on?" Leah asked with a smirk, snapping me out of my thoughts. I realized I was sitting at the desk in the office staring into space.

"Hey. I was just trying to figure out the whole reason why we imprint and stuff." I answered truthfully.

"Oh God. Be careful, you might hurt yourself," she replied. "That's a tough one to figure out."

I shook my head as if to clear out my brain and focus on my surroundings.

"I like Abigail," Leah said with a smile as an offer to change the subject.

"Me too," I smiled back and waggled my eyebrows.

"Ew, you have _the look_. Never thought I would see the day," Leah teased.

"Me neither," I sighed.

"Well good for you. Now you can leave me alone," Leah joked.

"Ha! I've left you alone for years," I scoffed in reply. Leah and I became pretty close at one point, but both knew it wouldn't work out. I'm glad we didn't take our relationship any further. It would have sucked to imprint on someone else when involved with Leah. Sam already did that once to her.

"I'll just try not to corrupt her at the bachelorette party," Leah bantered. "By the way, rumor has it you haven't told her about imprinting yet."

"Ugh, no," I grunted.

"And, why not?" Leah didn't exactly have the Den Mother look as the other women in my life did, but she did have her own version and I knew she wanted details. She stood there with one hand on her hip and her lips pursed expecting an answer.

I explained to her, like I did with everyone else, about Abby being married and I didn't want to put that pressure on her or influence her divorce decision.

"Dude, you better tell her. She's signed the papers. She's pretty much yours now. I don't know if any of those crazy ladies will be able to keep their mouths shut at the party. Especially if they've been drinking." Leah was referring to the imprints. When they got together and talked, they usually revealed too much. I guess it wasn't too different from the minds of the wolves being linked. Between the two groups, the pack family knew a little too much about each other.

"Eh, I think I'll wait," I replied. I was still too nervous. I was certain I needed to tell her my feelings, but I wasn't ready to reveal the whole imprinting thing.

"Stupid," Leah muttered. "Where's Seth?" she changed the subject before I could respond.

"Patrol."

"Well the reason I came over was to advise all of you freaks to not mortify my poor husband-to-be. You know he's all skittish about the wolf thing." She warned. "Take it easy ok?"

To this day none of us were sure Allen had ever seen Leah as a wolf. He knew she was a wolf and he had seen Seth once and nearly pissed himself.

"What, you've never burst into your little grey wolfy-self when you get in a fight with Allen?"

"No! I stopped phasing right before I met him," Leah said with a blush. Why was she blushing?

"Has he heard you growl?" I smirked and gave Leah a suggestive wink. I had heard the growl in the heat of passion. Suddenly I felt the metal corner of a stapler crack into my skull.

"Ow! You haven't lost your strength," I roared. I could feel a trickle of warm blood ooze from my forehead. By the time I grabbed a tissue to wipe the blood off, the wound had healed.

"Just…be nice, ok?" Leah begged. She actually looked worried about the whole thing. With me, Leah usually broke out of her tough exterior and allowed herself to be more exposed.

I pulled Leah into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry," I assured her. "We'll play nice. If anything, we plan on making fun of ourselves."

"Ok," she muffled a reply into my chest.

I felt a tingling in my chest, the only feeling that a wolf could receive from an imprint. I expected Abby for lunch and knew she was near. When I looked up Abby was standing in the doorway watching my exchange with Leah. I gave her a big smile and waved her over.

"Group hug," I said, still holding on to Leah. Leah looked up and saw Abby and smiled.

"Why are we group-hugging?" Abby asked as she wrapped her arms around both Leah and me. I greeted her with a kiss on top of her head.

"Leah thinks we're going to pick on Allen too much at the bachelor party…and I like boobs," I answered. I received a smack from the two ladies as they broke the embrace.

"Don't you think Allen should be worried about what we have in store for Leah?" Abby retaliated.

"Oooo…can you tell me anything?" Leah asked Abby with actual excitement on her face.

Abby didn't reveal too much about the party and then the conversation merged into wedding preparations. The way Leah was talking to Abby seemed very alien. Leah actually went all girly. I stood there with a bewildered expression on my face and watched in amazement. There was a pause in the conversation and they both looked my way, catching my bemused look.

"What?" Abby asked.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked Leah with disgust.

"Oh, shut up," Leah replied with a smile.

"What?" Abby asked me again.

"I don't usually act this way in front of the guys so Embry's confused," Leah answered her and rolled her eyes.

"Who are you, and what have you done with our Leah?" I joked and lightly shook Leah's shoulders. Leah batted me away and laughed.

"Alright, alright. Leave me alone," Leah responded and gave me another quick hug as I smooched her on the head again. She turned to Abby and gave her a big smile. "Thanks again for helping me with the flowers and decorations. I really appreciate it. Can we get together next week?"

Plans were made between the two ladies with more girly expressions coming from Leah. I just laughed and shook my head at their exchange. Once Leah was gone Abby and I headed for lunch.

********

After dinner was consumed and the dishes were clean, Abby and I were settled in our favorite cuddle position on the couch watching TV.

"Holy Hell woman you can make a mean taco," I praised Abby while rubbing my tummy. I grabbed Abby's hand and thumped it on my belly. "Check that out. I'm about to burst."

Abby laughed, but the sparkle in her eye wasn't there. I could tell something was bothering her.

"Alright, what's up?" I asked as I shifted our bodies so that we were facing each other. "You have been quiet all evening. What's bothering you?" I stroked her cheek and gave her a soft kiss.

"It's nothing," she tried to brush it off, but I knew better. Since she was my imprint I could almost always sense her feelings. Plus, women said that all the time and never meant it.

"Did I not leave enough tacos for you?" I attempted to lighten the mood to see if she would talk. Abby smiled in response and was quiet for a short while before answering.

"Do you and Leah have a history?" Abby asked quietly without looking into my eyes. _Hmmm…I believe my girl is jealous._

"Um, yes." I said honestly.

"Oh," was Abby's only reply. She still wouldn't look at me.

"She's part of the pack. I used to be in her mind all the time. We're pretty close." I elaborated.

"How close?" Abby wondered out loud while she concentrated on brushing lint from my shirt.

I wasn't sure where this conversation was headed, but I knew I had to be honest with Abby. I had no other choice. I didn't want other questions to come up that I wasn't prepared for. I wasn't sure I was ever going to be prepared for it.

"We have been together-together on an occasion," I hoped she understood what that meant. When she looked up at me Abby's eyebrows pulled together. I sighed and was forced to say the words, "Sex. We've had sex." Abby nodded her head slowly in understanding.

"Why did you break it off?" she quietly asked. I couldn't get a read on her face.

"It was mutual. We were better off as friends. We really didn't have that spark between us," I answered. Once I said the word "spark" Abby's eyes darted up to mine and she gave me a small shy smile.

Abby continued to play with my shirt and I could practically see the wheels in her head spinning. I waited to see if she had any more questions for me.

"She is gorgeous," she finally commented.

"Yes, she is. But not as beautiful as you," I replied. Abby smiled and rolled her eyes. "Cheesy?" I asked about my comment.

"Yeah, cheesy," Abby giggled.

"Well, it's true. I don't want you to worry about me and Leah. That little exchange you saw there in the shop, it was innocent. She's my sister-wolf. I love her, but not in that way. It's been years since we were together and it was short-lived," I explained.

"Ok." Abby said with a small smile and seemed to relax.

"Besides, I have you," I added.

"What do you mean by that Embry?" Abby asked bluntly with an edge to her voice. "I mean, you're letting me stay here, helping me with divorce paper-work, taking me to work, making out with me…it's _almost_ like we're a friggin' old married couple." Abby slowly sat up during her rant and tears started to well up in her eyes. "You don't want anything in return…anything," she stated. It wasn't a question.

"I just want you," I replied truthfully, not sure what she needed to hear.

"You don't even know me," Abby said weakly.

"You are Abigail Elizabeth Reece…soon to be Smith. You are twenty-six years old. Your birthday if June 17. You work in daycare, but you want to be an elementary school teacher. You only need two more years of college for that to happen," I replied with confidence. Abby smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but I quickly kissed it to stop her.

I continued, "You are about five-foot-two, and I'm not even going to guess your weight in fear of getting slapped," Abby giggled at that comment. "You have the most beautiful caramel-colored hair and the most stunning hazel eyes I've ever seen." She blushed and looked down at her hands. I pulled up her chin to look into her eyes again. "The mention of children makes your eyes twinkle and look sad at the same time and I don't know why." That comment made her smile go away, so I went in another direction. "You think it's hilarious when someone on TV gets nailed in the balls and your belly laugh is the most wonderful sound I've ever heard." I could tell she wanted to laugh, but she was trying to hold it in.

Abby seemed to relax some more, so I pulled her body back down on the couch and hovered over her. I gave her a long, deep kiss and pulled away again to give her more information. Abby's eyes were hooded and her breathing pattern picked up.

"You seem to always have a tune in your head when you're doing things around the house and your ass jiggles to the music," I said as my hand slid down to grasp the ass in question. Abby inhaled sharply and her eyes widened. "And right back here," my mouth moved to the spot behind her ear along her hairline, "is a cute little heart-shaped mole that I want to nibble every time I see it." Her body shivered and she let out a squeak when I actually nibbled the spot. "And these, right here," I moved my hand from her rear to her chest, "I've been dying to touch them since I saw you in the shower the other day." The moan she emitted from that touch made my insides burn, but I tried to hold it together.

"I only know what you tell me and what I've observed," I continued as I pulled away to look into her eyes. "I don't know everything, but I want to. I want you to tell me everything."

The moisture in Abby's eyes finally spilled over. I continued to pepper her face with kisses hoping to soothe her. "I care for you so much. I know it's only been a few weeks and I know it's a lot to ask after all you've been through, but can you trust me?"

"I'm scared," Abby finally replied. I knew if I told her about imprinting and how it meant that she was mine forever she would understand her feelings and know that it was alright to trust me. I knew I needed to tell her soon. Leah was right. I was stupid.

"Don't be –" I started, but Abby didn't give me a chance to continue my confession. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down on top of her. Her kisses were urgent and passionate. Her hands worked quickly to peel off my shirt, but when she made her way to the fly of my jeans I gently stopped her. It was clear what she wanted, but there was still that little part of me that felt it was a little too soon. I was struggling with that small part of me. I hated that small part of me.

"Embry, please," Abby's mouth left mine to beg. With that plea that small part of me that held me back disappeared. I nodded with a groan and returned my mouth to hers. Our hands went to work undressing each other. Her body was so soft and smooth and I was eager to caress and kiss every inch of her. I couldn't help but tell her how beautiful she was over and over again. Our breathing was shallow and quick and the sounds she made from my touch drove me insane.

Abby told me exactly what she wanted with the sexiest voice that made me come unglued and I couldn't deny her any longer. Just as I was prepared to give in to her desire I heard the faint howl of a wolf. I stopped my actions immediately and almost started to cry.

"Oh, please no," I whispered. I couldn't believe this was happening. I didn't know if Abby would understand.

"Oh Embry," Abby whispered, "It's ok. It happens. We can just keep going. Try again." Her small hand stroked my hair in an effort to let me know she understood. But I knew she definitely did NOT understand.

"What? No," I stuttered, almost embarrassed, but I didn't have anything to feel uncomfortable about. "That's not what happened," I chuckled as I sat upright and shimmied myself into my pants. _But I was damn close._ I thought. "Sam's calling me."

"What?" she looked hurt. "Embry if you don't want to, I'll be ok with it."

"No, I'm serious," I tried to explain. I scooped up her naked body and hugged her tightly to make a point. "I _really _want to," I groaned, "but Sam's out there calling me and I can't deny the Alpha's call. He wouldn't bug me on my night off if it wasn't something urgent." The howl was louder the second time and I knew Abby heard it too.

"Ok," she seemed to try to put on a pleasant face for me but I could tell she was still hurt.

"I'll be back. I promise," I said before kissing her again. Abby gave me a small smile and nodded her head as she watched me leave. "I'll be back!" I yelled back one last time.

Once I made it to the woods and phased into a wolf, Sam and the others immediately knew from my mind what they had interrupted.

"_Oh, wow, sorry man,"_ Sam apologized.

"_Holy hell man, it's about time,"_ Brady's smart-ass mouth taunted me.

"_Fuck you_," I replied. He was too far away to bash in his skull. I heard Quil give Brady a skull bash for me. I sent Quil a mental high-five.

"_Alright, listen up." _Sam started. I must have been the last to phase since he usually waited to give us the rundown once everyone could listen. "_There was a bloodsucker scent caught just north of Forks. Quil tracked it back to almost the Canadian border, but lost it."_ I could hear the tinge of regret from Quil's mind. Those leeches were tricky. It had happened to us all.

"_It wasn't the Cullens? They are coming in for Leah's wedding."_ Collin asked.

"_I'm not stupid. I know the Cullen's scent and they wouldn't try to evade me like that," _Quil replied.

"_Plus they called Charlie and said they wouldn't be here until next week,"_ Seth added.

"_Are you sure the leech hasn't made it this far?"_ I asked suddenly having an additional someone to worry about. Just as I thought about Abby other imprint faces and children flashed through our thoughts.

"_Yes, Seth and I both ran the perimeter and didn't come across anything around La Push."_ Sam assured us. "_Don't worry, I just wanted everyone available to do one more run through just to make sure. I also want to check the wider perimeter east of Forks towards Seattle."_

Sam continued giving instructions and we all paired off to cover our designated area. I was eager to get the job done and get back home to my Abigail.

**So…tell me what you think. If I receive more reviews for this chapter than I did the last, I'll post another chapter by Tuesday. Hey, bribery worked the last time. I'll try it again! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for encouraging people to review SweetRia! But she's right, I know there are a few people reading this because I often get emails where someone added it as a favorite or a story alert. I want to make you all happy, so let me know what you think…'cause that makes me very happy! I also like hearing from new readers.**

**Sorry Embry and Abby were interrupted…friggin' bloodsuckers.**

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Chapter 12.

Quil was right; somehow the vampire's scent completely stopped in the middle of an open field near the border of Canada. There weren't any trees around to climb so the leech probably has some sort of power to hide its scent. Or, it knows how to fly. That wouldn't be the craziest thing I've ever heard, but I doubt that could happen.

It was a long night. As overprotective men with imprints and families, we decided to cover our tracks a second time. After that, we double checked the area our brother was assigned to, just to be sure. We always did that, even if we weren't asked to. No one ever took offense to it. It was sort of a silent, mental agreement. There was also an agreement that Seth, Quil, Collin and I were going to be late for work in the morning. We asked Jared to have Kim open up the shop for us.

After running for so many hours I dragged myself up the stairs and found my sweet little angel curled up on my bed, tucked under the covers. The memory of our almost-love-making from the evening before flashed in my mind and I had the desire to continue what we started. But, the desire for sleep was even stronger. It was 5:00 a.m. and I knew Abby had another hour or so of sleep so I tried to quietly creep into bed without making a sound or too much movement. I thought about sleeping in her bed, but I didn't want her to worry when she woke up and didn't find me next to her.

Just as I my face hit the pillow I felt two small hands on my back nudging me.

"Embry, wake up," I heard Abby softly say beside me. When I opened my eyes it was light out. I swear I had just closed my eyes.

"Em, it's six o'clock. It's time to get up." Abby continued to lightly shove me.

"Just take the car," I mumbled into my pillow.

"What?" she giggled.

I forced my head up enough so that my words weren't muffled. "Take the car, I'm going in late. I just got home. I'll hitch a ride."

"Awe, poor baby," Abby whispered in my ear while she stroked the hair near my temple. "Well I'm going to go for a run then since I'm up so early."

"Uh-huh," I grunted in reply. I thought about the vampire trail Quil found near Forks. Yes, we had just cleared the perimeter, but it had still been too close. "Stay on the reservation," I tried to say coherently. The words came out almost like a demand.

"Ok, bossy," Abby replied and swatted my, apparently naked, ass. I let out a pathetic growl that made Abby laugh. In my exhausted state I must have forgotten to put my pants back on.

I moved my hand up to my face and tapped my cheek asking for a kiss. Abby obliged and let her lips linger on my cheek bone long enough for a deeper growl to permeate through my chest.

"You better stop growling or you're gonna freak out Flurry again," Abby laughed and the last thing I was aware of was Abby sliding off the bed.

********

Tiny little daggers poking in my back woke me up from my deep sleep. The soft pads of Flurry's feet were kneading my back which kind of felt good, but then those piercing nails would poke immediately after. It wasn't too painful, but enough where it was keeping me awake.

"Ow," I grunted. The little strength it would take to push Flurry off my back wouldn't emerge. I could hear the comfortable purr coming from Flurry and I could tell he wasn't going to move.

"I think I figured out why he likes you so much," I heard Abby say. I opened up one eye and saw her leaning up against the door way brushing her teeth. Her cheeks were pink indicating she just got home from running. I grunted in reply and closed my eyes again. Abby continued, "You are so warm and he's attracted to warm things. Back home…um, well, my old home," I smiled lazily at her correction, "he liked the electric blanket. How warm are you anyway?"

"One-oh-eight," I replied with a raspy voice.

"Mmm…you're gonna be nice in the winter," Abby practically moaned in her seductive voice before walking towards the bathroom. When she returned from brushing her teeth she climbed up on the bed. Her smooth hand rubbed over my butt as she whispered in my ear. "Thanks for letting me use the car. Do you need me to pick you up after I get out?" I nodded my head. "Ok. I'll let you get some sleep baby," she squeezed my butt-cheek and sucked on my earlobe. "I'm going to work."

"Tease," I grunted.

"Tease!?" Abby said incredulously, "I'm not the one who bailed right after things got hot-n-heavy! Do you know what I had to do to myself after you left?" she said suggestively.

My head popped up off the pillow and looked at her in shock and slowly shook my head.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she said with a naughty smile and gracefully glided off the bed across the room. I threw a pillow at her head before she made it to the door. Abby let out a squeal as it hit her.

"You _are_ a tease! How am I supposed to go back to sleep now?!" I groaned. I heard Abby's laughter until she got into the car to drive away. At least I knew she wasn't upset because I had to leave her.

********

"I had a bad day," Abby stated when I got into the car after work. She slid over to the passenger's side to let me drive and immediately rested her head on my shoulder.

"What happened?" I asked and wrapped my arm around her tiny shoulders and squeezed.

"I heard from my lawyer today during lunch and he said the divorce proceedings have been halted because they have to take care of the No Contact violation first. UGH!" Abby gave a frustrated groan.

"How much longer?"

"Maybe another couple weeks," Abby sighed.

"Well that's not too bad."

"Bad enough. Plus, I got bit by a kid," she held up her arm to show me the marks and I cringed.

"Ouch."

"Yeah, and to top it all off…I started my period today," she said quietly, hiding her face in my side as I drove.

"Awe, that sucks," I responded and then it dawned on me what that meant. "Awe man, that does suck," it came out as more of a whine the second time.

"Tell me about it. I just assumed we would finish what we started last night and my day would be much better…but oh, no!" I chuckled at her annoyance. "I'm sorry," she sighed.

"Oh please. I think I'll be alright."

"Ok, 'cause I'm one big grumpy, lazy blob on the first day. Will you take care of me?" she asked as she looked up at me with her puppy-dog eyes. That look made me want to take care of her.

"Of course. What do you want for dinner?" I laughed and kissed her forehead.

"Got any Chinese take-out around here? I'm craving sodium," she replied with excitement.

"In La Push? Uh, no. But I know of something better," I said as I turned the car around and headed towards my mom's house.

"Mom, Abby here needs some comfort food. She's had a bad day," I instructed as Abby and I walked through my old home. Abby felt uncomfortable about barging into my mother's house uninvited, but I knew we, especially Abby, would be a welcomed surprise. The trip would satiate my need to visit my mom, mom's request to see Abby again, and get food in our bellies.

"Well hello to you too!" Mom gave us a welcome smile and immediately stopped what she was doing to approach Abby. "It's nice to see you again Abby." She pulled Abby into a hug, already accepting her as a friend of mine.

"Hi Mrs. Call, I don't mean to barge in here demanding dinner," she explained to my mom while she gave me a sideways leer.

"Nonsense," mom used her hand to push the thought away. "And please, call me Elizabeth. I usually expect Embry here _at least_ once a week…but it's been awhile," mom gave me an accusatory glance. "I'm always prepared."

"Sorry mom," I said as I pulled out a chair for Abby in the kitchen. She sat down and then I took my own seat. "Abby's been cooking for me every night. I'm way too spoiled."

Abby looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't know," she said shyly.

"As long as you come with him once in awhile, I think we're good," my mom replied with a wink. "How does salmon sound?"

Abby seemed to become introverted as soon as we walked in the house. She kept her distance from me and avoided any type of physical contact. Although she usually didn't like to talk about the divorce situation, Abby seemed to want to make sure mom knew all about it. My mom wasn't nosey, but she did ask some questions. She was concerned for Abby's safety from her ex-husband. Mom seemed more curious about the whole divorce process than anything that had to do Abby's relationship with me or Craig. I decided to try to put Abby at ease.

"I'm going to go start the grill. Abby, will you come with me?"

Abby and I made our way outside to the small patio in the back yard. The house hadn't changed too much since I had lived there. It was a small house, but large enough for just the two of us when I was growing up. The fort I built when I was a kid still stood in the far corner of the yard. It looked pretty rickety and I wouldn't proclaim it safe for any children. I believe it was currently inhabited by a family of rabbits.

Abby noticed the shack of a fort and started asking me things about my childhood. We stood outside for awhile with our arms around each other and talked.

"Are you ok?" I asked Abby.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" she replied.

"You know my mom isn't going to judge you, right?" I said, knowing she wasn't 'fine.' "You don't have to feel like you have to explain yourself around her. She knows how I feel about you." Abby let out a sigh and squeezed me tighter.

"I know. I just want her to like me and I don't want her to think I flit around from guy to guy."

"I thought you didn't care what people thought."

"I care what your mom thinks of me," she answered with a shy smile. "I don't want her to believe all the rumors going around."

"First of all, my mom has liked you since the day she met you in the store. She's always asking me to bring you over. Second, my mom hears all the gossip and never believes half of it. Third, she doesn't spread any rumors either. Anything you say is held in strict confidence. Ok?" Abby nodded into my chest. "So just relax and have a good time. Be yourself."

The remainder of the evening was more casual and it seemed my talk with Abby had helped. Abby seemed to be more comfortable and opened up to my mom about her past and her feelings for me. Although she didn't verbally express her feelings, Abby didn't have any problems being attached to my side as usual in front of my mom. Mom seemed to beam when she noticed how happy we were.

As I watched my Abby and my mom talk to each other, I couldn't help but think that if I hadn't imprinted on Abby, I'm pretty sure I would have fallen in love with her anyway. I couldn't find a single flaw about her. I didn't see her imperfections as she did. She seemed perfect for me. But I guess that's what imprinting was all about; finding your perfect mate. I decided right then that I needed to tell Abby everything else she needed to know about me and imprinting, despite the results.

Promises of future visits and weekend shopping trips were made and leftovers were shoved into our arms as we headed out the door of my mother's house. I could tell Abby was getting sleepy, but I knew I needed to make some confessions.

"Abby, I need to talk to you about something," I quickly muttered as we climbed into bed. Abby studied my face before she replied.

"Is everything alright?" she asked nervously.

"Perfect," I tried to comfort her with a smile. "Come here." I patted the spot next to me and she molded herself into my side. Before I started I kissed her mouth to remind her of my feelings for her. "I'm not sure how to say this, so I'm just going to blurt it out."

"Ok." She nodded.

"You know I'm a wolf, right?" I asked as my nerves caught up with me. Abby sensed it and started to rub my cheek with her hand as she nodded. I tried to get it together before I continued. "Ok, um, the second I met you, actually right before I met you, I knew that you were meant for me."

"How?" Abby asked. Her eyes had softened and a small smile formed on her lips. So far, so good.

"I felt this stinging sensation in my chest and I was so drawn to you. It wasn't painful, it was pure joyfulness. Like my chest was filled with pride. I've felt it since the first day, every time you're near me." I felt my confidence build up as Abby's face seemed to glow and her eyes widened with my every confession. I bent down to kiss her again before I resumed.

"And then when I looked into your eyes, I just knew it. There was like this peaceful aura around you and I just wanted to scoop you up and kiss you so badly." This time Abby pulled herself into a sitting position and kissed me. Her smile had grown wider and she seemed excited, but let me continue.

"When I shook your hand this energy, spark, whatever it is shot between us and it left me stunned. It felt like my chest was going to rip apart when Vanessa dragged me away from you." When I paused Abby threw herself at me again and gave me another long, deep kiss before pulling away.

"Me too!" she said with amazement in her eyes. "Why? Is it because you're a wolf?" I confirmed with a nod. This was going better than planned. She obviously felt the same way about me. I hadn't really doubted that part this entire time. I was more anxious about the bound-to-me-for-life part.

"We choose our mates, our soul mates, our life partners. We call it imprinting. I chose you and you were chosen for me. I am pretty much bound to you for life and I'm pretty damn happy about it. I will never hurt you and, until you force me away, I'll never leave you. I will love you for as long as I live."

Tears started to spring up in Abby's eyes once she heard me tell her I loved her.

"Really?" she squeaked out and as she smiled her round cheeks pushed her tears down her face.

"Really. I love you more than anything…anyone." I stated and kissed the tear trails on both cheeks. Abby grabbed me around the neck and squeezed me tightly. Through a sniffles and hitched breaths in my neck, I finally heard her reply.

"I love you too."

I gently positioned her back down on the bed beneath me and continued to kiss her. We remained that way as we kissed and gave soothing caresses. The connection between us was much different than the evening before. It was a different kind of passion, more adoration than lust.

"Embry," Abby spoke with a laziness in her voice, "why me?"

"Why did I imprint on you?"

"Yeah."

I grinned and said, "Do you need me to go over all the things I love about you like last night?"

"No," she laughed. "I mean, why do you think that someone is chosen for you. Can't you guys just figure it out on your own? Why can't you just be with anybody?"

"I wouldn't have chosen anyone more perfect for me, first of all. And it hasn't really been confirmed, but we think it has to do with passing along the wolf genes." After our previous conversation regarding children, I wasn't sure how that information would be received.

Abby's face got serious and it looked as though she was going to cry again. I gave her another kiss and rubbed soothing circles on her cheek with my thumb.

"Abby, what's wrong?" I whispered. There was an anxious silence as I waited for her to answer.

"Embry," she paused as the tears once again flowed down her face, "I can't get pregnant."

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**Sorry, that's where I'm ending it. It was a good place to end the chapter, plus leave a cliff hanger! A lot of you guessed Abby's problem. So sad, I know. **

**Man – this is chapter 12 and I'm working on Chapter 18 right now. I know how I'm planning on finishing the story, but I have to find the time to sit down and write it.**

**With that said, if I get several demands to quickly post again I will! You know you can talk me into it!!**

**So REVIEW please!!!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry this took a bit. Don't yell at me :)**

**Coming up – a little action. And, I haven't done this in awhile – Disclaimer: The Twilight world is not mine. Just Tala, Vanessa and Abby.**

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Chapter 13.

My suspicions were correct. Abby wasn't able to have children. To say I was not disappointed would be a lie, but it was something I would be fine with as long as I had my Abby. I wouldn't be able to live without her. I had always envisioned myself the father of several children. Since I was the only child I wanted my kids to have a number of siblings to play with. I imagined having boys and girls; a sweet little girl like Vanessa and little brute boys like Sam and Emily's. If that wasn't meant to be, I would be fine with it. Abby was all I needed, but Abby's reaction made me wonder if having only me in her life would be enough.

"Abby, please let me in," I pleaded from the hallway. After her confession she darted out of bed and locked herself in her room. Other than her sobs and sniffles, Abby didn't reply. "I _need_ to make sure you're ok." There was still silence from inside the room. I sat on the floor and propped my head against the bedroom door. "Please. Will you just talk to me at least?"

"It's a big mistake," Abby finally said from inside the room. I started to panic. Did she mean her feelings for me were a mistake? Our relationship?

"What is?" I timidly asked.

"This whole imprinting thing. You couldn't have imprinted on me. I can't have future wolves!" she replied and her voice was squeaky as she cried. I started to get anxious from not being able to hold and comfort her.

"We don't know for sure if that's the reason why we imprint. I _know _I imprinted on you…there's no mistaking it for anything else. Tala herself had another theory," I tried to explain, but yelling through a door was getting on my nerves. "Abby, please!" I begged. "Open the door 'cause you know I can break it down. I've done it before."

I heard footsteps approach the door and the lock shifted open. I swiftly popped into a standing position before Abby opened the door. The pain in Abby's eyes was unbearable. I pulled her towards me and squeezed her tightly.

"What do you mean by other theories?" Abby asked.

"The genes got passed along to us just fine through our fathers. They were never wolves and they never imprinted on our mothers. I honestly think that I was just meant to be with you. I imprinted on you for some other reason. Tala thinks it was to protect you."

"Protect me?" she asked.

"When I imprinted on you, it was the moment we first met. You were married and unavailable. That hasn't _ever_ happened before. I freaked out and didn't know what to do. Some of us had met Craig before and had our suspicions. Tala thinks I imprinted on you to protect you from him." I continued, "Like maybe having the connection with me would help you get out of the situation."

"It did help a lot. I had been so unhappy for so long. If it wasn't for you, I would still be with him, I'm sure of that. I didn't have anyone else or anywhere to go," she started to cry again. I picked her up and took her back to my bed. I held on to her tightly and was silent as she cried it out.

Once Abby calmed down she looked up at me with a smirk, "you know, that's the reason Craig started getting…you know…mean," Abby confessed.

"What do you mean?" I asked through clenched teeth. I was pretty sure I knew her answer.

"Once I told him I couldn't have kids, he started treating me differently. He called me names and made me feel pretty much useless," she said in a small voice and immediately started to rub my chest when she felt my rage start to surface.

I drew in a long breath and let it out in an attempt to calm my fury. Abby leaned up and kissed my jaw and I could slowly feel myself relax.

"I was so scared to tell you," Abby continued, "especially after you told me you wanted a lot of kids." She let out a humorless laugh.

"Abby, you have to understand," I took her face in my hands so that she could see the truth in my eyes, "I would die without you in my life in any way, shape, or form. I'll take whatever you want to give me. My body aches to be away from you and if it were up to me, you would be mine in every way possible. But it's not up to me. Just because I imprinted on you doesn't mean you _have _to be with me. That's up to you."

"I feel the same way," she smiled. "I love you."

********

It was my night for patrol. I didn't mind since the next day was Saturday and I could sleep in. I did mind leaving Abby alone after our conversation. She fell asleep after we talked about the feelings we had for each other. I was confident she understood how strong my feelings were for her, but we had such an emotional night that I hated to leave her.

I unwrapped myself from around her sleeping body, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, and headed out the door. Quil waited for me near the tree line.

"_Sup?"_ Quil asked with a drag in his voice.

"_What's wrong with you?"_ I asked feeling his mood. Quil flashed me a summary of his evening. He had been with Claire for most of the evening and she had her flirt on big time. You could tell she tried to be subtle about it, but it was so obvious. Tight clothing and lots of physical contact were involved.

"_Oh man, I'm so sorry," _I snorted a laugh as Quil chanted _"two more years"_ over and over again.

"_I need to be with her as much as possible, but when I am it's so awkward," _Quil whined.

"_Maybe you need to have a talk with her. Or, have Emily talk to her or something. Maybe get the Den Mothers together," _I suggested.

"_I've got to do something. I'm sure I'm sending mixed signals," _I listened as Quil ran through some ideas and made plans to get the Den Mothers gathered.

We made our loop around our designated areas in the forest that covered La Push and part of Forks. Quil and I were separated by five miles, but we could still easily hear one another and reach the other quickly if needed. Our senses were on high alert lately since Quil caught a whiff of vampire last time he was out on patrol. We didn't have much of a conversation back and forth, but we were still aware of each other's thoughts and could tell where the other was precisely located from their surroundings. The wolves knew the Olympic Forest as well as any other creature in the wilderness.

The forest seemed extra quiet. Although I could hear the squeaks and tiny fluttering heartbeats of the wild animals, they didn't rustle around like usual and seemed to be hiding. The wilderness was used to the wolves and after so many years they didn't seem to be afraid of us. We rarely hunted them in our wolf form anymore since we preferred home cooked meals to raw flesh. The extra silence made things seem pretty eerie.

Just west of Forks on my loop back towards La Push the pungent aroma of a sweet bloodsucker invaded my snout. I stopped mid-run and took in my surroundings. I was pretty sure a leech was nearby.

"_I'm coming!"_ Quil said as soon as he caught the smell through his thoughts. _"I'm gonna call for help. I'm closer to La Push." _Quil howled the designated vampire cry letting any other wolf within earshot know that help was possibly needed.

As I waited for Quil I walked in a wide circle taking in the sights and sounds around me. My eyes scanned the trees all around me. It was dark, but luckily the moonlight was enough to help enhance my already superior vision. Vampires are very good at disguising themselves if necessary and they are able to stand so motionless it's easy for the eyes to scan right past them. The stench was strong so I knew the vampire was close by, but I wasn't able to locate it.

The moment I looked up towards the sky a strong force from above knocked me to the ground on my side with a thud.

"_Almost there!" _Quil shouted in my head and I could tell he was less than a half-mile away.

I groaned once I caught my breath and looked up to see a striking young vampire leering at me with her bright red eyes. She was gorgeous; they all were. Too bad I was going to have to kill her. With her long straight black hair that was windblown from running and her shabby clothes I could tell she must have been nomadic. Hopefully that meant she was alone.

Before I could get back on my feet she had quickly made her way towards me and grabbed my front leg. I could hear the bone crack before she swung me into the nearest tree. A couple snaps came from my ribs as my body wrapped around the tree trunk.

I heard the collision of soft furry flesh and stone before my body even hit the ground.

"_Oh goodie, you're here,"_ I said sarcastically to Quil. _"I think my leg's broken." _I could feel my ribs snap back together and quickly heal. Unfortunately, my front leg—my left arm, actually—was in worse shape.

Quil seemed to have the advantage over the vamp. He was still quick as ever and she wasn't surprising him by coming at him from above. I stood up on three of my four legs, ignored the searing pain that jolted through the injured one, and tried to help Quil. I took a snap at the vampire when he pushed her my way. One of my snaps removed a large portion of her shoulder which made her one arm almost useless.

Soon after the first collision between the vampire and Quil, I heard the slight shimmer of two more wolves phasing. It was Sam and Jared. They took in the scene and gave us pointers as they watched the fight unfold. Once they realized we had things under control, I could tell they were excited for the chance to get rid of the leech that had been taunting us. There were screeches from the bloodsucker with every chunk we took from her.

By the time Jared and Sam reached our location, Quil and I had the vampire almost completely dismembered.

"_I'll start the fire," _Jared offered and started to gather sticks to create the pyre in the nearest clearing.

"_The others are coming," _Sam said.

"_It's not the same one," _Quil said calmly, although his body was panting from exhaustion. _"It's a different scent."_

"_I agree." _Sam confirmed. _"I wonder if they were together." _Sam bent his neck down and deeply inhaled the closest vampire body part. The smell burned through his nostrils and we could all catch a hint of the other vampire's scent we experienced a few days earlier.

"_Great. We're gonna have a pissed off mate on our hands," _I said. Bloodsuckers got extra moody when you kill their mate. They don't only want to kill you; they want to torture you as well.

Several more wolves merged into our minds and Sam filled them in on the situation and gave the orders to cover the perimeter. He asked Paul, Brady, and Collin to follow the dead vamp's scent back to where it came from to see if it would lead to her mate.

"_No one phases out until we're clear," _Sam ordered. _"Except for you Embry, once we're done here, go on home and heal. We need you in good shape," _he said as he offered me a chunk of vampire to throw into the fire.

When the bloodsucker's body was almost completely burned to ashes, I headed for home. Quil accompanied me to La Push just in case we encountered the other vamp and I couldn't defend myself.

I could feel my leg start to shimmy itself back into shape and heal. I knew I shouldn't phase back until it was completely healed or it would hurt like a son of a bitch from the change. It felt like I had another hour or so. When I arrived home I collapsed in the back yard hoping to get a little rest with the chaos from the boys' minds running through my head. Usually it was really hard to sleep with other people's thoughts bombarding your mind, but my body was exhausted.

I must have slept quite a few hours because when I woke up the sun was starting to rise. I squinted my eyes and remembered where I was.

"_Yeah, you were sleeping for awhile. Man, you dream some weird shit." _I heard Collin chuckle as he was making his rounds.

"_Obviously nothing else happened last night?"_ I asked him.

"_Nope, we never caught the trail of the other bloodsucker. He must've sent in his lady friend there to check in on us." _Collin replied. _"Too bad she can't report back to him. Ha!"_ Oh how we wolves love to kill us a vampire.

"Embry?" I heard Abby's quiet voice as she peeked out the back door cautiously. My head swiveled her way and I gave her a snort and a nod to confirm it was me. "What are you doing out here?"

"_See ya Collin." _I picked myself up off the ground giving favor to my hurt leg. The pain wasn't as bad as it had been. I'm pretty sure it was almost healed. Abby noticed and started to panic.

"Embry! What happened?! Are you hurt?" she almost cried as she ran over to me. She gently grabbed my leg as if she knew what she was looking for. "Do you need me to call anyone?" I shook my head no. I wasn't quite sure my leg was ready to phase back into my arm, but I needed to assure her that I was fine.

As Abby held my paw I phased back to my human self and tried to contain my yelp from the pain. The change happened so quickly that Abby gasped when she noticed she was now holding my hand.

"That was weird. What did you do?" she asked as she inspected my arm. It was a little swollen, but seemed to have healed pretty well.

"Got in a fight—," I stopped myself from continuing. I remembered I hadn't told her about vampires yet. "Come on, I should tell you something."

********

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Abby screeched when it finally sunk in that I was telling her the truth. "Vampires really exist!?" I nodded my head with an amused look on my face. She was pretty entertaining when she swore. "Why are you laughing at me?"

"I'm not laughing at you," I said as I made my way to the shower. I hoped I could clean up and sleep for another few hours. "You're just really cute when you swear. All naughty and stuff."

"There are vampires out there and you think my reaction is funny?"

"No, it's actually appropriate," I said as I pulled her to me. "Vampires are pretty serious and you should be scared of them, but that's why I'm around. I will protect you from those leeches."

"You're friggin' crazy. That's the reason you guys patrol? You could've been killed. You act like it's not a big deal." Abby squeezed me tighter and started to tremble slightly.

"Honestly, you'll be fine," I tried to assure her as much as I could. Bloodsuckers aren't something to take lightly, but I didn't want her to be in panic mode all the time.

"Tell me all about them. You know, so I know what to do."

"Know what to do?" I was curious as to what she meant.

"Yeah, to defend myself," she replied with genuine sincerity. I bit my tongue to hold back my laugh.

"Abby, you can't defend yourself against a vampire. No garlic, wooden stake, silver, or holy water will help in your defense," I answered honestly and could see the panic start to build in her face again.

"Come on," I chuckled, "Let's go back to bed and I'll explain some more."

After showering it took another hour of answering Abby's questions and trying to convince her that she was safe from vampires before she was comfortable enough to fall asleep. When we woke up from our morning nap she had more questions for me. We spent most of the morning in bed until both of our stomachs started to growl from lack of food.

"So let me get this straight," Abby tried to clarify as she munched on her potato chips. "Leah's step-sister and brother-in-law are vampires and her niece is half-vampire?" Abby clarified.

"Yes."

"And Charlie and Sue know?"

"Sue knows and Charlie doesn't want to know."

"And they're coming to the wedding?"

"I think so. Most everyone that will be there knows the Cullens and knows what they are. For the people, like my mom, who don't know they are vampires may wonder why they still look like teenagers when they should be in their thirties. Humph, I wonder what they're going to do about that…" I trailed off in thought. It's not like they can make themselves look older. I should probably warn my mom.

"This is so unbelievably weird," Abby mumbled.

"Are you ready for the bachelorette party tonight?" I asked trying to change the subject.

Abby's face lit up and she gave me an impish smile. "I can't wait! I haven't been out partying with a bunch of girls in such a long time."

"Good. You'll have fun. Those ladies are crazy so you'll fit right in," I teased. She replied with a playful smack to my arm and a smirk on her face.

"What about you guys? What sort of plans do you have in mind for Allen?" Abby asked while she took care of the lunch dishes. "Are you going to stick to Leah's wishes?"

A sly grin crept across my face thinking about what we had in mind. "Oh, we'll try."

* * *

**A little vampire action for ya. Sorry if you dirty birdies were expecting something else. Please tell me what did you think?**

**The bachelor party is next (and a tiny bit of the bachelorette)! I had a lot of fun writing that chapter. You know how my bribes work! Review, Review, Review!**

**Seriously, if I have enough people interested, I'll post two chapters. I'm almost done writing the story. I'm up to Chapter 20!!**

**I'm thinking about writing about Quil and Claire next. I would love to write in Claire's teenager POV…all the hormonal, angsty stuff. Even though I'm far from being a teenager, I remember that shit. It sucked. I'll have to refer to my nieces on some stuff for authenticity. Hee hee**


	14. Chapter 14

**4. four is the number of reviews I had for the last chapter (sigh)**

**Allen's tribal name is not spelled correctly below because I don't have the Quileute font. ****I wasn't sure how Fan Fic document manager would translate that over. But it is how it's pronounced according to the enunciation key and Embry's definition is correct. **

* * *

Chapter 14.

"And now introducing the newest member of our tribe, formerly known as Allen Hirsch, Ho-quaht or One-Who-Crunches-Numbers," Seth announced to the group with grandeur as Allen shuffled out to the crowd. The members of the tribe busted out with laughter because that is not the definition of Ho-quaht. It actually means "white man." We couldn't figure out a way to translate Allen's Accountant career into something that was easy to pronounce. His new tribe name was extra funny because Allen was really white. He was tall, skinny and his skin was comparable to a bloodsucker's.

Allen stood in front of the group dressed in our version of a Native American warrior. For his costume we came up with a small piece of hide to cover his ass and groin area, a bunch of twigs tied together made a "breast plate," and to top it all off a large wooden carved headdress. We took some finger paint and decorated his bare skin in "war paint." What Allen didn't know was that we totally made up the look. Our ancestors weren't so vibrant. The headdress was authentic. We borrowed it from Old Quil.

Allen stood there with an amused smile on his face shaking his head. His pale skin and lack of muscles made him look especially nerdy in the fake get-up. He was obviously uncomfortable and out of place, but he was a good sport and let us all get our jabs in. He agreed to every idea we came up with and seemed to be genuinely enjoying our antics. I think he agreed because it made him feel like part of the group.

There was a mixture of hoots of encouragement and laughter coming from the group. We all sat around the bonfire on the beach and watched as Seth and Sam tried to teach Allen an old tribal dance we all learned in grade school. Poor kid didn't have any rhythm. I had a feeling Allen would be more comfortable in front of a big screen TV battling an opponent in Halo.

Most of the wolf pack was there, all but Collin and Brady. Since there was a leech taunting us we made sure the women of the pack were safe and Collin and Brady drew the short sticks. Brady grumbled about missing the bachelor party, but didn't seem too disappointed when he realized we really weren't hiring strippers or participating in traditional bachelor party activities.

"Oh Hell no!" I heard Allen shout. "There is _no way_ you're getting me to dive off that cliff."

"Come on! We won't let anything happen to you, we swear," Seth tried to convince Allen to join in one of our favorite activities.

Quil approached Allen and lightly put his arm around his shoulder. "Leah may like the idea of her future-husband being such a dare devil. She thinks bravery is hot."

"Oh yeah?" Allen asked, suddenly interested in the semi-dangerous sport.

Allen seemed to feel inferior around the pack and usually tried to act tougher than he really was. I was pretty confident Quil could use his smooth talking skills to persuade Allen into jumping off the cliff.

*******

The party started to die down along with the fire. Charlie, Billy and Allen were the only people whose bodies were influenced by the alcohol. It was quite entertaining to watch Allen try to match the wolves' beer-to-beer consumption. Apparently no one informed him that alcohol had no effect on us. We burned it off faster than it could be absorbed. Sure, we would get a buzz, but within a half-hour it was gone. Allen, on the other hand was drunk, wasted, shit-faced, hammered, plastered…however you wanted to refer to it and Leah was going to kill us. I would be surprised if Allen had ever been drunk before, but I had to admit I liked Drunk-Allen. He wasn't so meek and quiet. The beer made him loud and confident, but not in an annoying way. It also made him courageous. If he wasn't intoxicated, I'm sure Allen would have never jumped the top tier of the cliff into the ocean. Of course he screamed like a little girl and of course Seth was waiting in the water below to make sure he didn't drown.

So there Allen sat, leaning up against Sam telling him some story about his job, slurring out Accounting jargon and laughing at his own jokes. Sam smiled and nodded feigning interest as he tried to contain his amusement. The difference between Sam and Allen was hilarious. Allen looked like a scrawny young kid next to Sam's massive build.

Seth sat down next to me in front of the fire and noticed my observation.

"Leah's gonna kill us," he chuckled.

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"I should probably take him home soon. I haven't heard from the girls so I'm not sure if I should take him to Leah or not," Seth wondered out loud.

Right on cue my phone rang. Tala's number flashed on the screen. "Hey mama, Seth and I were just wondering about you guys." I could hear a ton of commotion in the background. It sounds like the Den Mothers were enjoying themselves.

"We're about to wrap things up. There are some of us who can't hold our liquor," Tala replied, yelling the last part like she was talking to someone else on her end of the line over the noise.

"If you weren't pregnant you would be right here with us Tala!" A familiar voice slurred and shouted in the background.

"Was that Abby?" I asked even though I was positive it was.

"Um, yeah. She's having a good time. She needs a ride home," Tala replied with a timid giggle. "I would drive her home, but your car is here anyway…"

I couldn't help but laugh as I heard my drunken Abby laughing in the back ground. She had the cutest laugh and it happened to sound extra loud. She mentioned she needed some girl time and it seems that she was taking advantage of it.

"Sure, I'll run over and get her," I laughed. "She seems to be a happy drunk."

"Oh yeah! I'm warning you…she's very affectionate and she's been discussing some ideas she has for you when you get her home," Tala barked out a laugh. Seth laughed next to me clearly eavesdropping on my conversation with his wife.

"Uhhhh…" I didn't find a response for that comment. I was curious what Abby had to say, but I sure didn't want to hear it from my cousin. "I'll be right there." I snapped my phone shut, eager to get to my girl.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to Tala," I heard Seth mutter as I walked away.

"Use your own phone," I said over my shoulder and made my way to Seth and Tala's house through the woods. I didn't bother to tell anyone I was leaving. The party had come to an end anyway and Seth was about to take the guest of honor home to his future wife. I was glad that duty wasn't bestowed upon me. Leah would not be happy when she saw Allen.

Images of laughing and dancing girls filled my head as soon as I phased.

"_Are you spying on them Brady?!"_ I growled as I sprinted through the forest.

"_What? Sam said to keep an eye on them,"_ he answered innocently with a hint of mischievousness.

"_He meant keep them safe, not ogle them asshole,"_ I responded. _"You better not be there when I get there."_

"_Relax,"_ Brady replied with a chuckle, _"I just got here. I heard someone scream, but it was nothing,"_ I could tell from his thoughts that what he said was true, but I did notice he was lingering a tad too long.

"_I'm almost there. Get out."_ I snarled. Brady laughed, but made his way back to the tree line.

The closer I got to the party the stronger the tingling sensation in my chest became. I could feel Abby was near and I was eager to see her. Music and feminine laughter streamed out of the house and I could easily pick out Abby's voice among the others. I pulled on my pants and made my way into the Den Mother's nest, which wasn't really a good idea in their condition.

When I walked inside I saw Abby sitting next to Kim on the couch. They had their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders with their cheeks pressed up together singing with a song on the radio. Abby's cheeks were flushed from the alcohol and her eyes seemed a little glazed over. She still looked beautiful.

"Well ladies the entertainment if finally here!" Leah whooped from behind me as she smacked my ass. Her outburst made all the women look my way, throw their arms in the air, and start up the cat calls as I stood there in only my pants.

"Turn up the music!" Ashley yelled from the corner. "Come on Embry, show us what you got!" Her comment was backed up with another round of hoots and hollers from the intoxicated females, except for the sober Tala. She just rolled her eyes and slightly shook her head.

Before I could say anything Abby launched towards me and wrapped herself around my body. "Sorry ladies, but this one's mine," Abby garbled out. "He needs to take me home and give me my own private show," she said in a seductive tone which set off another sequence of high-pitched "wooos."

"Hello to you too. Feeling good I see," I snickered.

"Take me home," Abby whispered in my ear before she attacked my neck with her mouth and tongue. I blushed from the intimate way she handled me in front of the Den Mothers and the way they seemed to egg her on. I could feel my body start to react to her, so I quickly said my good-byes, grabbed Abby's things and carried her out the door.

"Have fun you two!" Leah called from the house as we made our way to the car, which was followed by more hoots and vulgar comments from the drunkards inside.

In order to place Abby into the car I had to peel her off my body as she protested the entire time. I finally got her seat belt wrapped around her and when I pulled away to shut the door, I saw a pout form on her lips. I chuckled to myself knowing the trip home and putting her to bed was going to be quite the challenge.

When I got into the car I could see Abby staring at me. I looked over at her and it didn't take a mind reader to know what she was thinking.

"Hi," she said as she leaned towards me. The seatbelt across her shoulder made her stop short and prevented her from moving any closer. She frowned and set herself free from the restraints.

"Seatbelt," was all I said in return. I leaned over and strapped her back in for the second time. Abby took advantage of my closeness and grabbed my face to kiss me. Her tongue entered my mouth and I could taste the distinct rum and diet Coke flavors. I continued to kiss her for a few seconds before I broke the connection and pulled away from her. Abby's bottom lip puffed out and her arms crossed her chest like a little girl who wasn't getting her way.

"Oh relax you," I chuckled at the sight and stroked her cheek as I pulled the car away from the Clearwater residence. "I thought you wanted me to take you home."

"I do," Abby said as a smile slowly crept across her face. I decided to ignore her lustful stare. I knew once we got home I wasn't going to allow too much to happen. I didn't want our first time to be when she would possibly not remember the next morning.

The ride home seemed to take longer than usual. I fought Abby's wandering hand the entire time and had to finally grab it and lace my fingers through hers to stop her from molesting me. Although I knew she was too intoxicated to take advantage of, I wasn't sure how much I could handle.

"Did you have fun?" I asked in an attempt to take her mind of things.

"It was so fun. I really like those girls," Abby replied with a sigh. "They are so nice and accepting of me. I love them."

"Of course they're accepting of you. You're part of the family now," I picked up our linked hands and kissed hers. Abby suddenly got quiet and I heard her sniffle. When I looked her way she had tears in her eyes.

"Oh Abby, honey, don't cry." Once I said that the tears started to stream down her face. Apparently alcohol made Abby very emotional as well. "Why are you crying?"

"It's been so long since I've been part of a family," Abby whimpered quietly.

"You are now and they love you too. I love you," I kissed her hand again.

Abby looked up at me smiling, "I love you too."

Abby's emotional state shifted back to her horniness in a blink of an eye when I lifted her out of the car to carry her to the house. I'm pretty sure she could have walked, but I was enjoying the way she was kissing me.

I carefully, but quickly ran up the stairs and put her in bed. Abby pulled me on top of her not wanting to break off the kiss. I hovered over top of her kissing and dodging her roaming hands until I edged close to my limit.

When I pulled away she frowned and whispered, "Embry, make love to me." _Holy shit. Can't do it Embry._ I thought as I groaned.

"You're drunk," I said, not wanting to tell her 'no.' "Don't you want our first time to be something you'll remember the next day?"

Abby let out a sigh and let her arms drop to the bed with a small smile. "Ok," she said quietly. Then her eyes furrowed together and her voice was serious. "Tomorrow," she said it like a demand.

"Yes ma'am," I replied and kissed her forehead.

"Can you put my jammies on me? These clothes aren't comfy," she asked innocently as she scratched at the glittery top she was wearing.

"Ok, but no funny business," I teased as I grabbed her tank top and pajama pants off the chair next to the bed.

"I'll be good," she promised, crossing her heart with a smirk. "I'm just tired and my arms feel heavy." I could see that the longer she laid there, the more relaxed and sleepy she became.

"Lift up," I directed as I pulled her shirt over her head. She was wearing a red lacy bra that I gawked at a little extensively. I quickly took her tank top and started to put it over her head.

"Wait," Abby whined. "My bra. Underwire pokey." Her fragmented sentences led me to believe she was close to passing out. I gave her a questioning look with one eyebrow lifted silently reminding her to be good. She responded with a sleepy smile and a hum.

Quickly, I unfastened the clasp, removed her bra, and pulled the tank top over her head, but not before I noticed how her bare breasts bounced out once free from their contraption. _Fuck me._ The brief glimpse instantly excited me. I groaned and took a deep breath to try to calm myself before I started to work on her jeans.

Abby lifted her hips enough for me to slide off her pants easily, but once I saw the matching thong panties a whimper escaped my lips and I almost started to cry. I love red. _She's drunk. She's drunk._ I kept chanting in my mind as I frantically finished dressing her.

Abby was way past her frisky stage by that point and didn't even notice my struggles to control my hormones. Her breathing started to slow down and become deeper.

"Embry," Abby mumbled. I crawled up beside her and kissed her head.

"Yeah?"

"Could you get me some water please?" I could barely hear her request.

"Of course." I slid out of bed and quickly jogged down the stairs to fetch a glass of water. By the time I made it back, Abby was passed out snoring…loudly. I couldn't help but smile and stare at my cute little intoxicated angel peacefully sleeping in my bed. I sat the water on the nightstand and carefully moved Abby near the edge just in case she needed to get up and puke or pee in the middle of the night without having to climb over my huge body. I hoped she wasn't a puker. I wasn't sure if I could handle that.

After going through my nightly ritual, I climbed in bed with Abby and snuggled into her trying to keep her warm. I felt her body relax beside me as she let out a sigh. Her snoring stopped once she got comfortable and cuddled into my arms.

******

The eggs in the pan were not quite runny enough for me so I decided to make a breakfast sandwich with them and add it to Abby's plate. I had been up for quite a few hours waiting for Abby to wake up. It was almost time for lunch and I assumed she would be up soon. She really seemed to be sleeping off her hangover.

I heard my name and a mumbled groan come from the bedroom. I grabbed the group of possible hangover remedies I collected and sped up the stairs. When I walked in the room I noticed Abby was on her stomach, her face buried in her pillow looking as though she was hiding her eyes from the light.

"You're finally awake," I chuckled as I watched Abby throw the sheets over her head trying to escape the bright room.

"I'm going to die," Abby's groan was muffled into the pillow.

"Nah, you'll be fine," I chuckled. "Here, drink some water."

I held on to the glass and watched as she slowly lifted herself off the pillow. Once the sunlight found her eyes she smashed her head back to the pillow with a groan.

"Can you shut the shades please?" Abby mumbled. I tried to contain my laugh, assuming she wouldn't be in the mood for my teasing, as I quickly pulled the shades and cut off the bright sunlight from the room.

"Ok, they're closed. Now sit up and drink." I softly commanded.

Abby lazily pulled herself up into a sitting position and looked at me with narrow eyes. Her make-up smeared under her eyes and her hair was a wild halo surrounding her head. As messed up as she looked, I still had the urge to lean in and kiss her. When I did just that she blocked my kiss by putting her hand over her mouth.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. It tastes like something died in my mouth," she muffled through her hand. I smiled at her and moved my mouth up to her forehead instead.

"Here, drink this and take these." I handed her a fresh glass of water and a couple Advil tablets. "I also made you some food, but I wasn't sure what your usual cure for a hangover is. There's toast, greasy hash browns, coffee, orange juice, eggs –" I started listed off the items, but Abby cut me off.

"I don't drink enough to know what my usual cure is. I haven't done this since college, but I'll take the juice and toast please," Abby said before she threw back the Advil. "What do you do?"

"Oh, I've never had a hangover," I said honestly.

Abby gave me an incredulous look and asked, "Ever?"

"Nope. Alcohol doesn't affect the wolves. We burn it off too quickly," I replied and started eating the hash browns before they got cold.

Abby's face scrunch up into a disgusted look. "Leah," was all she said with a hateful tone.

"What about her?" I chuckled.

"She and I played a drinking game and she obviously kicked my ass," she said as she made a gesture towards herself. "No wonder all the other girls were laughing! They knew she wouldn't get drunk. Bitches." Abby grunted, but a small smile crept on her face.

"Last night you were saying how much you loved them."

"Oh I do, but they're going to pay." She sneered as she chewed her toast. She was so damn cute when she was pretending to be vengeful. I went for her mouth to kiss her, but she blocked me once more.

"I seriously have to brush my teeth and pee right now." Abby slowly dragged herself off the bed and once she stood up she swayed a little bit. "Oh God, I think I'm still a little drunk."

* * *

**I'm done writing the story! I finished it yesterday. I'm now going to start writing about Quil and Claire so put me on your Author Alert if you haven't already done so...and you are interested.**


	15. Chapter 15

**:-( Not a lot of review on the last chapter. There were a ton of people story alerting or author alerting though.**

**Disclaimer - Twilight is not mine.**

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Chapter 15.

Abby, in her drunken stupor, was miserable, hung over, and frankly, being a big baby. I didn't mind. I liked taking care of Abby even if she whined and took advantage of my willingness to coddle her. She actually asked me to carry her down the stairs because she was still feeling the effects of the alcohol. She was very particular with the volume on the television and the brightness of the room because her "head feels like it's gonna explode." When I made Abby lunch she gave me specific directions on how to make her sandwich because just thinking about eating made her "want to puke her guts out." My girl was a bit overdramatic, but that's ok because it was entertaining and I knew she wasn't like that all the time.

I finally received the phone call from Seth I had been waiting for and Abby gave me a hard time about leaving. She complained about having to wait on herself.

"Then come with me," I smirked, knowing she wouldn't want to leave her cocoon on the couch.

Abby shook her head and groaned. "Where are you going anyway?" Abby whined from underneath her covers on the couch. The blankets were pulled up to her face and only her eyes were peeping out to see the TV. Flurry was balled up on top of Abby's body enjoying his owner's laziness.

"It's a surprise," I said as I wiggled my eyebrows at her. I could see her peeping eyes give me a curious squint.

"For me?" she asked as she popped upright and threw the covers off her body; pushing Flurry off the couch. Abby mumbled an apology to Flurry as he stormed off up the stairs.

"Yep. Is that all it takes to get my drama queen up off the couch?" I chuckled as I grabbed my shoes. Abby hopped off the couch and started cleaning up the blanket and pillow heap. "Look at you," I scanned her disheveled body and her crazy hair. "Why don't you take a bath first?" I teased.

"What is it? What is it?!" Abby asked as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, ignoring my bath comment.

"You'll find out when we get there," I replied as I pulled her in for a hug and kissed her forehead. She huffed back as I pushed her towards the stairs to the bathroom.

After Abby cleaned up we made our way to the Clearwater's. When I pulled in I saw a familiar sports car in the driveway and smiled. Renesemee's brand new Aston Martin was sitting in the driveway. She received it as a wedding gift from her parents two years ago. Jake received a Hummer, but Nessie refused to drive it all the way from Canada because she said it was a gas guzzler (although her car wasn't any better). So, poor Jake had to fold himself in the tiny car whenever they visited home.

"Nessie and Jake are here," I informed Abby. "They came in a couple days earlier than the rest of the Cullens for the wedding."

"Oh," Abby said as she shot me a worried look.

"Are you nervous?" I asked her with a smirk. We had talked about the Cullens and she knew they were coming to the wedding, but I don't think she expected to meet Nessie so soon.

"No. The girls told me all about her…yeah, a little," she finally confessed. I grabbed Abby's hand and kissed it, trying to calm her.

"It's ok, she won't bite" I teased.

Once we parked the car the front door to the house flew open. Nessie ran out with Vanessa strapped to her back. Vanessa screamed our names with excitement while she giggled from the bouncing of the piggy-back ride.

Nessie was only ten or thirteen, hell I wasn't sure. I lost track, but I was pretty sure she was at least in her teens in calendar years. Physically, she looked in her early twenties and gorgeous as ever. Since she was half-vampire she aged quickly until she was eight and then stopped. She would forever be frozen in time like the rest of her family; even Jake. Jake decided he would stop aging as well since Nessie was his imprint and he could be with her forever if he wanted to. As long as he continued to phase into a wolf, he could do just that.

"That's my teacher!" Vanessa yelled to Nessie, even though her mouth was right next her Nessie's ear. "That's Miss Abby!"

I glanced at Abby and noticed her nervousness fade away once she observed Vanessa's interaction with Nessie.

"Well hello Miss Abby," Nessie greeted Abby with a handshake as Vanessa still held on to her back. "I've heard a lot about you from this little one," Nessie jerked her face towards Vanessa and kissed her on the cheek.

"I've heard a lot about you too from, well…everyone," Abby replied with a giggle.

"All good I hope!" Nessie giggled. Abby nodded and laughed with her. "How are you Embry?" Nessie asked as she pulled me into a hug. Because Vanessa was still hanging on I hugged and kissed her too.

"Awesome," I replied as I proudly grabbed Abby and kissed the top of her head.

Nessie clapped her hand enthusiastically and practically squealed, "I was so happy when I heard. Congratulations! And you're here for the surprise!" She looked down at Abby, "It's so cute!!"

"Cute?" Abby asked, "What is it?" She glanced up at me.

"It's a –" Vanessa started to say, but Nessie quickly covered Vanessa's mouth before she could ruin the surprise.

"Jake has it ready for you. Let's go!" Nessie grabbed Abby's one hand and I grabbed the other while we made our way to Seth's huge garage. Abby glanced at me with a curious look, but I just smiled in return. I was anxious about her reaction. I didn't know what she would think about me purchasing such an item for her.

Nessie was the first in our procession to get to the door. She knocked, opened the door, peeked inside, and led the rest of us in behind her. Seth and Jake were sitting on the counter munching on some snacks.

"She's here!" Nessie told them as Abby made her way in.

"How are you feeling today Abby?" Seth deliberately asked in a raised voice. His voice echoed off the walls in the garage. I saw Abby flinch a little from the sound and give Seth a playful glare. Her hangover was still in full force.

"I'm just fine thanks," Abby replied after she quickly glanced at Vanessa. I could tell she wanted to be a little nastier, but Vanessa's presence kept her reply innocent.

I walked over to Jake and gave him a manly back-pat hug that we used when greeting each other. It was always great to get together with Jake. Quil and I have been best friends with him since we were little. Since he had imprinted on Renesemee we rarely got to see him. He decided to move with the Cullens. After introducing him to Abby we easily got caught up on each other's lives. We sat and visited with Jake and Nessie until we were interrupted by an impatient four-year-old.

"Uncle Embry," Vanessa whispered as she tapped me on the hand. I glanced down showing her she had my attention. "Can we give Miss Abby her surprise now?"

"Oh, yeah," I whispered back. I had completely forgotten about the surprise. It looked like Abby had forgotten as well since she and Nessie were in a deep discussion about one thing or another. I patiently waited until I could dive in and interrupt.

"Can I interrupt for your surprise?" I smiled.

"Oh, yeah!" Abby and Nessie both answered at the same time with the same excitement.

I kissed Abby on the cheek and walked over to the short sheet-covered mound in the corner of the massive garage. I carefully eyed Abby waiting to see her reaction. She gave me a confused look when she noticed what I was standing next to. I slowly pulled off the sheet to reveal a five-year-old, baby blue Volkswagen Beetle.

Abby continued to give me a confused look and once her understanding kicked in her hands slowly made it up to her mouth. "What is it?" She asked softly.

"It's a car!" Vanessa replied with a hint of mockery in her tone which made Abby laugh and ruffle Vanessa's hair.

"I know that, Miss Smarty-Pants," Abby replied and then looked up at me, "but what's it for?"

"It's for you." I waited for her reaction and she finally started to shake her head. It looked like she wanted to protest. Before she could reply I continued. "It didn't cost very much. Jake found it for me and he and Nessie's Aunt Rose fixed it up to practically brand new condition. Now if you have things to do in town you don't have to feel guilty about borrowing my car." Abby started to open up her mouth in protest but I interrupted her again. "Please, just let me do this for you."

Maybe Abby saw the pleading in my eyes because she let out a sigh and smiled at me. "Well it is pretty cute," she finally said. I could feel my shoulders relax knowing she wasn't upset with the gesture.

"Right!?" Nessie replied. "I drove it all the way here. It's not that fast, but it's zippy. Get in! Get in!" Nessie enthusiastically pushed Abby towards the car so Abby could check it out. When Abby walked passed me she paused to kiss me and whisper 'thank you.'

****

"What do you mean sparkle?" Abby asked Nessie with an awed expression.

During dinner they started talking about Leah's upcoming wedding and how the Cullens weren't sure they were able to attend because it was being held outside. Leah was one of the few brides that hoped it wasn't going to be sunny on her wedding day, although she didn't want rain. Living in Washington there was a good chance she would get her wish. Leah was hoping her step-sister Bella, a vampire, would be able to stand up with her. The wedding was being held under the cover of the forest, but there was always a chance the sunlight would peek through the trees and reveal why the Cullens were different from everyone else. Leah and Bella had always had a complicated relationship, but in the end they became pretty close.

Nessie glanced over at Vanessa and then looked behind her at the sunbeam coming through the dining room window before she answered Abby. Vanessa was fully aware of the wolves, but clueless about vampires. Nessie pulled back the sleeve of her shirt to expose her arm.

"See that?" Nessie asked Abby quietly. I could see the shimmer come off Nessie's skin. It was subtle, but definitely noticeable.

"Yeah," Abby replied, her eyes wide in wonderment. It made me smile. She seemed just as interested in Nessie's abilities and the vampire world as she did the wolves. I could tell that Nessie had Abby wrapped around her finger liked everyone else was. "I noticed it outside, but I assumed it was your lotion or something."

"Nope, that's all me," Nessie answered while she covered up her skin. "Imagine that, but ten times brighter. Rainbows dancing off their skin, blinding to look at," she raised her hand in gestures to accentuate her point. Nessie was very animated. "That's the rest of my family. It's really cool, but so NOT normal that people would freak out. Leah thinks it won't be a problem for Bella at least because we're wearing long sleeve dresses and big ole sunhats, but…" Nessie trailed off while Abby continued to listen intently, hanging on Nessie's every word.

"Is that because you're only half?" Abby asked in a softer tone, pointing to Nessie's arm. Nessie and her conversation started get quieter in order to keep it quiet from Vanessa on the other end of the table. You never knew when her little hawk ears were listening in. Nessie hesitated and glanced up at me before answering and Abby seemed to think her questions were getting too personal. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ask personal questions…"

"No problem at all! I'm just careful who I tell things to because that one over there," Nessie pointed to Tala, "would get a little woozy when she first learned about those things." The rest of us in on the joke laughed at Tala. Tala fainted when she found out about wolves and vampires. She hasn't lived it down since.

"Not anymore!" Tala tried to defend herself, but we knew she still had a weak tolerance for most things supernatural.

"Fill me in because I _know_ she filled you all in on last night's activities. I need some dirt on her," Abby asked Nessie with a look of satisfaction in her eyes.

After she huffed and rolled her eyes Tala decided to recall the story, cryptically because of Vanessa, and Abby seemed to be satisfied.

Abby went back to drilling Nessie with questions and Nessie answered enthusiastically which made Abby even more interested and excited. They compared their stories about imprinting and Abby was amazed that Nessie actually remembered everything from the day of her birth. I was starting to believe Abby forgot about me until she reached for my hand after several minutes without any type of communication with me. Not that I was jealous, but I was used to the constant touching or our gazing into each other's eyes.

"Do you want to see it? Mine and Jake's imprinting?" Nessie asked with excitement? By this time Tala was getting Vanessa ready for bed so Nessie decided to pull out all the show stoppers.

"Oh Ness, I look like a big dufus!" Jake whined.

"Oh, I've GOT to see this!" I chimed in. Jake mumbled something about himself looking like a dork. Apparently Nessie showed him the scene before.

"What are you guys talking about?" Abby glanced around confused.

"Nessie's ability. She can show you pictures in your head. It's cool." I said with a nod of encouragement. Nessie's hands where getting ready to touch us once Abby gave her the ok. Abby nodded, Nessie gave each of us one of her hands, and the show started.

Nessie was cuddled into the shoulder with blonde hair brushing up against her face; apparently her aunt Rosalie was holding her. Nessie's eyes made it to the top of the stairs where a pair of scruffy, bare legs slowly made their way down. When Jake's face came into view for a split second you could see the hatefulness and anger that burned in his eyes, but quickly his expression changed. Once he looked into Nessie's eyes his features softened and all the rage was gone. He paused on the steps and a small smile played on his face. As soon as I saw the look I laughed out loud.

"Oh shut up!" Jake yelled as he slapped me upside the head, breaking the connection with Nessie's hand.

I continued to chuckle and looked to see Abby's reaction. As suspected she was amazed. Her face had a goofy smile on it and glanced from Nessie to me.

"That is cool," she agreed. "But you looked just like that so I don't know what you're laughing about," she said to me. Jake and Seth turned the razzing back on me.

Later in the evening we made our way towards the living room area. The baseball game on TV caught the attention from the men, but the women continued to talk to each other. The conversation drifted toward Tala and her pregnancy. I immediately tightened my grip around Abby, not sure how she would react to the conversation. To my surprise she was the one to keep the conversation rolling.

"Tell me if I'm getting too personal, but can you have children?" Abby asked Nessie timidly.

"I don't mind talking about it at all," Nessie replied. "I'm not sure if I can even get pregnant because of what I am. There's not many of my kind and none that I know of have children." Nessie shrugged.

"Have you tried?" Abby asked.

"No, not yet," Nessie replied and gave Jake a small smile.

"We've had lots of practice though!" Jake poked Nessie in the ribs.

"Ew," Seth and I grunted together.

"Jake and my dad are worried about what kind of being we would create together, like it could end up being some sort of monster or something," Nessie glanced back up at Jake and rolled her eyes like the idea was ridiculous. Jake shrugged his shoulders. It seemed like they've had this discussion before. "Especially after my mom had such a hard time delivering me and had all her complications." Nessie had filled Abby in earlier on Bella's near death experience from the pregnancy and the problems Renesemee caused by being an rare species.

"Does that bother you? Possibly not having children?" Abby asked quietly. She still didn't seem totally comfortable asking such personal questions, but I could tell she wanted to know Nessie's feelings.

"I'd be ok with it...I think. To be honest I'm a little scared to try since we're not sure what would happen. But either way, I would be happy as long as I was with Jake and my family," Nessie answered truthfully as she cuddled into Jake's side. Jake kissed the top of her head, but his eyes didn't leave the television screen.

Abby followed suit and pressed closer into my side. I looked down to see her face and followed her gaze. She was looking at Tala who sat absentmindedly rubbing her swollen belly. Abby sighed quietly next to me and glanced up at me through her eyelashes giving me a small smile. I squeezed her tighter and gave her a soft kiss.

A quiet howl in the distance made all three wolves in the room and Nessie perk up our ears.

"Oh no, I know that look," Tala groaned and looked up at Seth anxiously.

The four of us started to get up out of our seating positions to answer the call of duty. I reached towards Abby and gave her a quick kiss.

"What's going on?" Abby asked. She was obviously confused since she wasn't familiar with "that look" or didn't have super-sensitive hearing.

"Sam's calling us. We gotta go," I replied and gave her another kiss as she followed me towards the door.

"Ness, stay here," Jake stopped Nessie at the door. She gave him a stern look in return, obviously annoyed by being excluded. Jake gave her an amused smile and kissed her softly. He leaned down and whispered in here ear, "Keep Tala and Abby company and keep them safe." Jake glanced towards Abby. "She looks like she needs distracted."

I looked back towards Abby before making my way out the door and saw that she was extremely tense. I swooped back towards her for another kiss and hug.

"Baby, it's ok. I'll be back," I tried not to chuckle at her uneasiness. "It's probably nothing. And the whole pack will be there." Abby gave me a small smile and nodded without saying anything. I gave one more kiss for good measure and ran towards the alpha's call.

*****

"_I swear to God that fucker can fly!"_ Quil seethed. "_His trail ended in the middle of nowhere again."_ Quil filled us in on the events that led to Sam's call.

Once again Quil was the one who located the scent and followed it to another clearing in the forest floor where the scent disappeared into thin air.

"_Jake, maybe you can give us another viewpoint about this whole thing,"_ Sam filled Jacob in on the other instances where we found the bloodsucker's scent and how we killed its possible mate. We could hear Jake's mind scrolling through everything he knew about vampires.

"_I've never heard of any that could fly and unfortunately I've met several,"_ Jacob shuddered when he thought of a few of the creepier leaches he had met since he had lived with the Cullens. _"Maybe it can just jump really, really far? That's not totally unreasonable."_

Some vampires had crazy strength and even crazier abilities, so I had to agree with Jake. I wouldn't be surprised if the bloodsucker we were trailing could jump more than a mile leaving its scent to dissipate in the breeze.

"_Let's pair off and pan out to see if we can pick the scent back up from this location,"_ Sam instructed giving us a visual in his mind how he wanted us to span out like spokes in a wheel. We all took off to hunt for a vampire.

Another hour went by before anyone picked up the scent, but finally Brady and Collin pulled through.

"_No friggin' way!"_ Brady said in astonishment. We all started running in his direction once we could smell the scent through his mind. _"I'm on the North side of Lake Ozette. There's no way that thing jumped this far!" _Brady's thoughts flared with amazement over the bloodsucker's possible ability.

"_There are a lot of trees between our starting point and where you are. It could've jumped along the tops of the trees," _Sam observed.

"_It could've decided to go for a dip the lake too," _Seth chimed in.

"_Why is it still hanging around?" _I wondered. In the past if we didn't catch up with a vamp, we didn't usually come across the scent again. We assumed our scent and the size of the pack deterred them from coming back. There had to be a reason why this certain bloodsucker had been hanging around this long.

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**I'm gonna get yelled at for the lack of Embry/Abby action. Sorry. Blame the vamps!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Another chapter!? I know! Although I'm not getting a lot of reviews lately…boo hoo…I'm not worrying too much about it since it was a holiday weekend and it's Spring Break time for some people. I'm hoping this chapter gets some more reviews **hint hint****

**A lot of you are wondering about the whole pregnancy problem. A lot of you are wondering when E & A are **_**finally**_** going to get it on. This chapter will help out both groups **

**Disclaimer – Twilight is owned by the wonderful and talented S. Meyer.**

**Chapter 16.**

I got excited when I heard the buzzing sound of the little blue Beetle's engine and the crunching sound of the tires in the driveway. Abby had been out helping Leah and the rest of the wedding party work out more wedding stuff. I was eager for our evening to start. I thought it was great that she had made so many friends. She needed them. Abby never really had any friends before, which blew my mind because she was the most loving and sweetest person that I knew. I knew what, or rather who was holding her back and it broke my heart.

Abby hanging out with the Den Mothers gave me enough time after work to make the evening special. I picked up some pasta and veggies for dinner, a bottle of cheap wine—since that's all the local stores carried. I didn't even know if it was any good. Hell, I didn't even know if Abby was a wine drinker, but it sounded like a romantic thing to do. I also picked up Abby's favorite ice cream for dessert.

Abby and I didn't get the chance to be together the night before like we were planning. According to Abby the night before, while she was drunk and horny, we were supposed to make love. I looked forward to it the entire day. I wanted to wait until Abby wasn't feeling too hung over. Hunting down the leech interrupted our plans once again.

The pack never did catch up with the bloodsucker and we stayed out most of the evening to make sure it wasn't coming back right away. But tonight, I took precautions that our evening wouldn't be spoiled again. I turned off the ringer on the phone and prayed the leech would stay away another night.

The Beetle came to a sudden halt as Abby slammed on the brakes. I could hear Abby struggling with the car door and I could feel her anxiety through our bond. In a flash I was through the kitchen door, meeting her on the front porch. Abby made her way towards the house glancing back towards the road.

"Embry," Abby gasped and walked faster once she saw me. Her face looked worried and nervous and she had tears brimming in her eyes.

"What's going on?" My protection instincts kicked in as I pulled Abby into my body. I followed her gaze towards the road trying to see what was making her so nervous.

"He's been following me all day," Abby whimpered into my chest. She seemed to calm down from my touch.

"Who's been following you?" I asked, although I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

"Craig. I saw him when I went out for lunch, then I saw him in Port Angeles when I was with the girls. And then I saw his car behind me just down the road. He's following me," she sniffled.

"Why didn't you call me at lunch? He has no reason to be in La Push!" My voice was harsh and I knew I was losing my patience with this jackass.

"Because I only saw a glimpse of his car. At first I just assumed it was someone else's Corvette, but then when I kept seeing it…" she gripped me tighter and finally got her nerves under control. "What does he want?"

"I don't know. He knows he's not supposed to come in contact with you," I squeezed her tighter. "Come on, let's get in the house and call Charlie."

The evening's plans were halted once again.

"He said he can't do anything since Craig didn't come in contact with me and kept his distance," Abby informed me when she hung up the phone with Charlie. "Charlie's going to call him and warn him. That's all he can do."

Abby wrapped her arm around my waist and squeezed me tight.

"It's ok. You know I won't let him hurt you," I growled and tried to keep myself calm. How dare that asshole taunt my Abby. Hasn't he done enough?!

"I know you won't, but you can't be with me all the time. I just wish he would go away and all of this was over," she was crying into my shirt. I felt helpless and angry. I too wish he would go away forever. "I'm so glad you found me when you did."

"I love you," I said while rubbing her back. We stood there for a couple of minutes until she calmed down.

"What's all this?" Abby sniffled. She was looking around the kitchen at the mess I had made from preparing dinner.

"Oh, I was making dinner." I mumbled. Abby looked up at me with a perked eyebrow. I'm sure she was suspicious since I rarely made dinner anymore and when I did it was something easy like canned soup or breakfast food.

"I thought I would surprise you," I shrugged and gave her a shy smile. I was trying to be romantic, but I wasn't sure how to do that. I figured attempting a nice dinner would be a good start.

Abby's mood lightened up after we started dinner and I asked about her day, other than the part where Craig stalked her.

"We're all set with the decorations for the wedding. Leah picked out the flowers and I need to pick them up Friday after work and throw them all together," she smiled as she described what they looked like and how she was going to assemble them. All that girly flower stuff was beyond me, but I enjoyed watching her get animated over her hobby.

"It sounds like you guys had a good time," I said when she was finished with her story.

"Yeah," she smiled and picked at what was left on her plate. "Oh yeah, I met Bella and Alice today. They are so nice and not what I expected, at all."

"Oh yeah?" I would've liked to see her face when she met real live vampires. Not just a half-breed like Nessie. Nessie could totally pass in the human world without any question with her creamy pale skin and normal brown eyes. But the Cullens were unnaturally attractive with their white, pale skin and golden eyes. Those traits usually made people leery and uncomfortable around them. Abby spoke of Bella and Alice as if they were regular people. I loved how she was so accepting of all things weird.

"Yeah. Alice asked me all sorts of questions about the decorations and flowers. She gave me some good pointers too." She paused and looked down at her plate then looked up at me through her eyelashes. She looked nervous and hesitated before she asked her next question.

"Embry? Why did you do all this?" Abby gestured to the dinner in front of her.

Suddenly I was nervous. It had been awhile since I was nervous around her. I didn't know what to say to her to avoid embarrassing myself. I'm not sure why I would be. I just assumed she would know what I was up to. Like we would end up on the couch cuddling as we always do...then one thing would lead to another. I noticed she was still watching me shyly, waiting for a reply. She was going to make me say it.

"Um, well…I was trying to make things special," I shrugged and glanced away. "I got your favorite vanilla bean ice cream." I stood up and made my way to the freezer, trying to change the subject. Before I opened the freezer door, Abby moved her chair back and approached me quietly.

"Embry, what's wrong?" she asked as wrapped her arms around my waist. "You seem nervous."

Abby could read me very well. I felt like she would expect this life altering love-making session just because she was my imprint. Even though we had this amazing energy between us that seemed to intensify everything, there was a part of me that didn't want to disappoint her. I was being stupid, I know.

"I just want things to be special," I smirked.

"You keep saying that. You always make me feel special. I love you," Abby whispered and reached up on her toes looking for a kiss. Her kisses soothed me and seemed to melt the nervousness away. At the same time the energy between us burned through her lips and stirred up emotions and passion within me.

I hugged her tighter and continued to kiss her in the middle of the kitchen. One hand was drifting across Abby's back under her shirt while the other tangled itself into her hair making her mouth press into mine harder. Abby's hands gripped my back. I could hear her heart start to accelerate with anticipation. I pulled back from our embrace and looked down at Abby, no longer nervous. Our breathing was labored and Abby gave me a lazy smile. Her eyes were dark and her lids were hooded.

"We can have some ice cream…after," I said wiggling my eyebrows. Abby replied with a giggle and pulled my hand leading me towards the bedroom.

****

"Oh my God…that was so…" Abby gasped incoherently. I was laying half-way on top of her kissing her neck and chest after we were done having the most amazing sex ever! Yeah, I was pretty goddamned ecstatic about it. It was definitely worth the wait. I'm not sure why I was anxious at all. The imprint bond made everything more intense and made any other sexual experience pale in comparison.

"Uh-huh," I replied with a chuckle.

"I've never…"she cut herself off and gave me a bashful smile.

"You've never what?" I knew she wasn't a virgin and we didn't perform any weird position. Just the boring old missionary, although making love to Abby certainly wasn't boring.

"You know…that end part," she covered her face with her arm and suddenly became shy which was far from the woman I had just been with. Abby was a perfect combination of sexy and sweet and playful.

"You've never had an orgasm?" I was shocked. She shook her head 'no' still covering her eyes. _Poor thing._ "You've never been properly taken care of?" I teased. Abby shook her head again and I could see a flush of pink creep up her neck towards her cheeks.

"I know, lame huh?" she whispered.

"But I thought the other night…when we were interrupted and I had to leave…you said you took care of yourself?" Abby's confession had provided me plenty of fantasies since then.

"No," she giggled. "I was teasing ya."

I flopped on top of her so fast she gave me a shocked look.

"Well we're going to have to catch you up." I said as I slowly kissed a path from her neck, between her breasts, towards her belly button on down.

Abby's eyes grew wide and her breathing quickened. "Embry," she gasped. "I don't know if I can handle that right—" she cut herself off with a guttural moan once my mouth found it's destination. I was friggin' proud and happy that I was her first with something.

********

Waking up to Abby in my arms for the first time had been the best thing on Earth. I was wrong. Waking up to a _naked_ Abby in my arms was the best thing on Earth. Her body was flushed against mine and during some part of the night she had thrown off her blankets. Her skin that was pressed up to mine was slightly slick with sweat from the one-oh-eight degree body heat I was giving her. I watched her for a few minutes as she mumbled and squeaked in her sleep. I couldn't bear to wake her with the peaceful smirk she had on her face.

Finally her eyes started to flicker open and she leaned her head back to me for a kiss.

"Good morning baby," she said as she turned her body to face me. I kissed her to return her greeting. "We should totally stay home," she suggested and wiggled her body closer to mine.

"Tempting, but we have a bunch of crap to take care of at the shop since we're closing down on Saturday for the wedding."

Abby let out a long sigh and pressed her lips to my chin in an attempt to change my mind. "Bummer," she said quietly. "There's no way Leah's right."

"What's Leah got to do with anything?" I was curious and wondered if they were talking about me.

"She claims that Allen is the best lover she's ever had," Abby said with a sly smirk.

First I was in shock. _Allen!?_ Allen's a total nerd. He's a great guy, but the best lover Leah's ever had? Then my feelings were a tad hurt. What the hell was I? Chopped liver? Abby noticed the wounded look on my face and giggled.

"Really…you're feelings are hurt over that?" she asked. She pouted her bottom lip and stroked my cheek trying not to laugh at me. Abby was obviously mocking me.

"Maybe. It makes me feel inadequate," I mumbled.

"Oh honey, you certainly are not inadequate," Abby replied while she kissed my jaw and neck. "Someone who can do what you did _three times_ last night is far from inadequate." She then proceeded to tell me everything she enjoyed about the prior evening's activities. Abby made me feel a lot better about Leah's comment. Truly, I didn't care anymore.

A thought occurred to me at that moment and I wasn't sure where it came from. Through all the planning for the prior evening I hadn't thought about protection. We were both so excited that it was finally happening and so involved in the moment that it never once crossed my mind.

"Um, Abby," I said nervously. I hoped she wouldn't be upset. Abby looked up with concern when she heard my tone. "We didn't use anything. Protection. I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"I'm not worried, Embry. I can't get pregnant, remember?" she gave me a small, sad smile. "Unless you're worried about something else?" Her face flashed quickly with worry.

"No!" I quickly assured her. "I'm good. But…" I paused because I wasn't sure how to ask Abby without offending her. I didn't want her to think that I thought she was lying. I also didn't like bringing up a subject that I could see clearly hurt her. Since she had been talking to Nessie about it the evening before, I started thinking about it again. "How do you know…that you can't…can't get pregnant?" I stammered. She never did give me a reason why. All I knew was she tried when she was first married, but was never successful.

"After a couple of years of trying it didn't happen," Abby said in a small voice. "I assume I'm having the same problem my mother had."

"She eventually had you," I said softly. Abby shrugged her shoulders. "So you've never seen a doctor about it?" I suddenly became hopeful.

Abby rolled her eyes and snorted. "Yeah, right. Like _he_ would allow me to spend extra money on all that."

Although the thought of the asshole not allowing Abby to look into her fertility problems and then practically treating her like shit because she couldn't give him children pissed me off royally, I was still feeling optimistic that maybe Abby just incorrectly assumed the worst.

"So it's possible?" I gave Abby a mischievous smile and started to make my move for one last romp before we had to get ready for work.

"Wait, wait Embry," she replied as she gently pushed me away. "I can't do that. I can't do anything to get my hopes up." I could see her face was sad and anxious. I immediately regretted bringing up the subject. "I've already accepted that I can't have children. I don't want to be disappointed again." She started to make her way out of my arms, but I held her close to me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just know how happy it would make you. You never know, it could've been his fault. Maybe you're supposed to have _my_ children."

"Embry, please," Abby whispered. "I can't." I could see tears start to well up in her eyes.

"Ok. I'm sorry," I whispered and kissed her softly before she flashed me a small smile and headed for the shower. I decided to stay in bed until she was done to give her some time to herself. I really hoped I didn't ruin our perfect evening.

******

**Are you relieved!? Tell me what you think…please!**


	17. Chapter 17

**So…it takes a little nooky to get you guys to review!? Geesh…dirty birdies…and I don't even write the good stuff. Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad I relieved a few readers. **

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Chapter 17

My mother isn't an ignorant person. Elizabeth Call is, in fact, one of the smartest people I know. But I never thought of her as observant. Throughout my teenage years I was a total rebel because of the wolf transformation I was going through. I was moody, I stayed out all night on patrol, and I grew in inches and in bulk within weeks. Throughout that whole period of my life my mother didn't give me too much grief about it. I didn't think she knew. I thought she was oblivious.

I thought wrong.

"You knew!?" I gasped and looked at my mom in disbelief.

She knew I was a wolf, she knew all my friends were wolves, and she knew about vampires. She looked back at me with her affectionate mom-smile. Since Abby and I had become much closer I wanted to explain my relationship with her to my mom. I didn't want her to think I was an immoral person who would steal a man's wife. I wanted Mom to understand my connection to Abby, now that our relationship was official…in the regular human sense. I visited her to surprise her about all my dirty little secrets, but she ended up surprising me.

"Yep," she replied. "Why do you think I let you get away with all that stuff?"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was waiting for you to tell me. I knew you would come around in your own time." Mom came around to my side of the table and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"How long have you known?" I was still in shock. Although it was my choice, I felt guilty for hiding this deep, dark secret from the most important person in my life, but I wanted to protect her from the crazy things in the world. But she knew all along. It would've been easier on me if I knew.

"When you were going through your change I got really worried. You wouldn't tell me anything. I heard the other moms talking about their kids going through the same thing. They were all worried about it, except for Sue Clearwater. She had all sorts of excuses for you kids. I got suspicious so I confronted her since I wasn't getting information out of you." My mom looked worried I was going to get upset.

"I wish I would've known." I sat with my head in my hands thinking about all the times I felt guilty lying to her.

"It's ok sweetie," Mom assured me. "Really. I'm sure you had your reasons for not telling me."

"I didn't want you to know about all those bloodsuckers and stuff. I didn't want you to worry." I always thought it would be easier for her to think I was on drugs or caught up in a gang or something.

"So why are you telling me now?" she asked.

"Do you know about imprinting?" I asked hoping I could surprise her with one of the good things about being a wolf. Imprinting on Abby was the main reason for the confession to my mother. I wanted her to understand my immediate attraction and relationship with Abby.

Mom was walking around the kitchen and instantly stopped to look at me. "No. What's that?" She sat down in her chair again and gave me her full attention. I was excited to fill her in.

I started with what it felt like to imprint and how you instantly feel that connection with a perfect stranger and physically feel the energy between you. I went over all the different theories of why we imprint. I described everything in the love-sick girly way we all talk about our imprints and by the time I was finished, Mom's eyes were glistening with tears.

"Abby?" She asked, once again being observant. She could tell who I was talking about when I described the love of my life.

"Yeah," I nodded my head and gave my mom a shy smile. I felt like a teenager revealing my high school crush to my mom.

We continued to talk about Abby and our connection. Mom asked about Tala, Emily, and the other women and I confirmed their imprint status. When it came to Quil and Claire it took a lot of explaining for my mom to understand their connection. That subject lead to Jacob and Renesemee.

"That's another reason I wanted to tell you since the Cullens would be at the wedding tomorrow. I figured you would wonder about them."

"You mean how they don't age and Nessie aged so fast? Yeah, that was a lot to take in and it took awhile for me to cozy up with that idea. Most of the rez, the pack families, know about them, so the wedding won't be too much of a shocker." My mom seemed so casual about vampires. I've been surprised by the women in my life lately.

My cell phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Abby.

"Hey baby, I was just talking about you," I answered and suddenly became aware of the anxiety in Abby's voice.

"Em, can you please grab some of the guys and pick up Leah and me?" Abby's voice quivered a little through the connection.

"What's wrong?" I immediately went into protection mode.

"We're in Port Angeles. We saw a vampire in the alley and Leah turned into a wolf and it ran away. We're scared to leave our spot," Abby explained. I was so relieved Leah was there.

"It's gone now?"

"We think so, but we're afraid it may come back," her voice was frantic and pleading. "Please, just hurry."

"We'll be there as soon as we can. Leah will keep you safe, ok?"

"Ok. Oh, Leah wants you to call Seth and Bella please."

"Ok." I hung up the phone and gave a brief explanation to my mom, assuring her Abby was fine. Everything would be fine.

Several agonizing minutes later Seth, Sam and I pulled into the alley next to the florist Abby and Leah had visited. Even though I spoke with Abby during most of the car ride into town, I was more at ease once I could see with my own eyes that she was safe.

Bella was sitting with Leah and Abby near the Beetle when we arrived. Abby and Bella seemed to be comforting an obviously distraught Leah. I couldn't see them, but I caught Edward's and Jake's scent, knowing they were searching the area. Edward, Bella, and Jake were already in Forks visiting Charlie when I called them and decided it would be faster to run into Port Angeles than to wait for our caravan.

As soon as Abby saw me I could see her shoulders relax and she gave me a relieved smile.

"What happened?" I said as I wrapped my arms around her.

"I'm so sorry Embry. I was so scared I wouldn't be able to help her," Leah answered before Abby could reply. She seemed visibly shaken and upset with herself, which wasn't like Leah at all. She usually had a tough exterior and was always so confident.

"Leah, you did save me. I'm ok," Abby tried to assure Leah and grabbed her hand in comfort.

I immediately tensed up. _Save?_ "What the hell happened?" I asked again through my clenched jaw.

"Embry, I'm ok," Abby grabbed my face and forced me to look at her while her thumb rubbed soothing circles on my jaw. "We were coming out of the flower shop through the alley towards our car."

"I didn't know he was there!" Leah interrupted with a growl. Since she stopped phasing her senses weren't as strong as they used to be. "I couldn't sense him until the last minute." Bella wrapped her arms around Leah in comfort trying to calm Leah down before she ripped back into her wolf form.

"The man was standing in the shadows over there," Abby continued and pointed out where the vamp stood behind a dumpster hidden in the shadows. Once my mind registered the foreign scent I instantly matched it with the bloodsucker we've been trailing the past few weeks.

"It's him!" I growled. I looked back at Seth and Sam. They had searched the area and by the looks on their faces, they confirmed the scent.

"He touched you?!" I gasped as I noticed the scent was the strongest on Abby and my body started to tremble. "What did he do? What did he say?"

Abby brought my face back to hers and continued. She seemed a little dazed by the whole encounter, but was holding up pretty well.

"All he said was that he's been looking for me. He had a creepy look on his face and his eyes were red," Abby shivered at the description. "Totally different than these two," Abby said as she nodded towards Bella. By that time Edward and Jake were back waiting to give their report.

"He grabbed my arm to pull me away," I interrupted Abby and pulled up her sleeve to check for injuries to her arm. There was a small fresh bruise. I growled. Abby continued.

"But then Leah growled at him and he backed off. When he wouldn't leave Leah burst into a wolf and he ended up running away."

The bloodsucker said he was looking for Abby. What the hell did he want from her? Why was he following MY Abby? Is she the reason he hasn't left the area and has been taunting the wolves for weeks? She's not the one who killed his mate.

"She's his singer," I heard Edward whisper. It was too soft for Abby to hear, but everyone else around with superior hearing did.

"Oh shit!" I sighed. _Of course!_ _That makes perfect sense._ Nothing came easy with Abby. If Abby was this leech's singer, there was no way he would leave until we either killed him or he got to Abby first. And the latter was not happening. I looked back at Edward and he nodded in agreement.

"What? What's wrong?" Abby asked. There was no way I was going to tell her. I didn't need her worrying about a bloodthirsty vampire having an urgent need for her blood. She didn't need to know that he wasn't going to stop stalking her until he had tasted her and killed her.

"We have to kill him," I answered more to the others than to Abby. She didn't look pleased.

"What? No! You can't just kill him," Abby gasped. "Can't you tell him to leave or something?" Oh my poor innocent Abby.

There seemed to be mixed emotions from the group. The wolves were excited for the challenge and the chase and the vampires seemed sympathetic towards Abby and me. Edward knew too well what type of effect a "blood singer" could have on a leech. Bella was his singer and he struggled with it every day until she was changed. Bella's blood called to him and he almost drained her the first time he met her. There wasn't a chance in hell I would allow that to happen to Abby.

"_Don't you dare tell her Edward," _I warned him silently. I saw Edward give a small nod in understanding.

"He's not like these two here," I told Abby and pointed towards the happy vampire couple. "He eats humans and he's been around our territory and taunting everyone. If he shows up again, he's dead…like _really_ dead this time."

Actually, I wasn't planning on waiting around until the thing showed up. I planned on hunting him down and killing him before he had a chance to come near Abby.

We all stood around wondering what to do next. We decided the group of us sniffing around Port Angeles would look suspicious so we paired off and headed home.

"Let's all get home. Leah has a wedding to prepare for tomorrow," Sam suggested.

******

The day got worse when Abby received the mail. Craig had refused to sign the divorce papers. The letter from his attorney stated something about a wrongful arrest and adultery. I didn't understand a word of the legal crap. All I knew is that Craig was an asshole and he was upsetting Abby.

"I don't know what he wants from me? I don't own anything. He has everything!" Abby sighed in frustration. Flurry, Abby and I were cuddled into bed watching television. "Unless he wants Flurry back," Abby giggled, trying to lighten the mood as she scratched Flurry between the ears. Flurry grunted in response to his name and continued to purr from the affection he was receiving.

"It sounds like he just wants to make you look bad or feel bad for leaving him," I replied. "Maybe he just wants to drag this out because he knows you're happy now."

"I am happy," Abby said as she leaned back and kissed me sweetly.

"Maybe you should just fight against him and tell your side of the story," I said. I still thought he needed to repay Abby for all he took from her. "Maybe call him out on your suspicions of him cheating on you."

"No. I don't know that for sure. I have no proof," Abby rolled her body to face mine. "I just want him out of my life so I don't have to worry about him anymore! I wish he would disappear. I can't wait for us to be together without his ass in the way."

"He's not in our way," I assured her and pressed my lips against hers. "We are together."

"You know what I mean," Abby mumbled. She wiggled her body until it was closer to mine. She stretched out next to me and wrapped her arm around my back under my shirt. Abby was quiet for a few minutes and I could tell her mind was reeling over something by the way she made patterned circles on my back.

"Are you going to tell me what's _really_ going on with that vampire?" she finally asked. I wasn't expecting that. Abby was an attentive one.

"I told you…he was in our territory and won't leave so we're gonna take care of him," I reiterated our conversation from the alley.

"Right. You're gonna kill him," Abby sighed. "Isn't that kind of, I don't know…harsh?"

"Harsh?!" I gaped at Abby wondering why she was having sympathy for the leech. Flurry jumped off the bed from my outburst. "You do understand _what_ that bloodsucker wanted to do with you right? He wasn't going to drag you away to go sniff some fucking roses!"

I noticed Abby cringe from my outburst and willed myself to calm down. She was still a little too sensitive when it came to anger. I rarely lost my temper around her, but when I had she didn't react well. I'm sure she had her fill of anger management issues with her ex-husband.

"I'm sorry," I sighed and pulled her closer to me. "I just…I really need you to take those leeches more seriously. They kill people Abby. They don't just take a little blood. Not like in the movies. They're in it for every last drop," I shivered at the thought of almost losing her to one of those freaks. "I don't know what I would've done if Leah didn't scare it away." I could feel the ache in my chest just from the thought of not having Abby. I stopped talking because of the lump that started to form in my throat.

Abby sensed my anxiety and returned to rubbing circles on my back.

"I'm sorry," Abby said and looked up at me with an apologetic smile. "I just assumed they were all civilized and reasonable like Edward and Bella."

"There's no reasoning with them. And they are definitely not civilized. They're dangerous. The Cullens are a rare exception and believe me; it took a _long_ time for us to realize they wouldn't hurt anyone. They weren't allowed on our land for the longest time." I gave her a pleading look. "Just be safe. Ok? I need you to be with me, or one of the other wolves, or hell, even one of the Cullens as much as you can until we get rid of that thing." Abby winced a little at my choice of words.

"What about work?" she asked as she shifted her body so that our faces aligned.

"You're safe in La Push," I replied. Sam already made arrangements for an extra wolf to run a patrol shift around the daycare whenever Abby would be working. She didn't need to know she would have a bodyguard twenty-four-seven while the leech was still alive. I hoped we didn't have to worry about the bloodsucker by Monday. That thing needed to be taken care of now even if I had to hunt it down myself.

I was knocked out of my vengeful thoughts by a soft kiss between my eyebrows.

"Don't worry so much," Abby said softly and kissed me several times in that spot until my face relaxed.

I looked into Abby's eyes and saw "the look." The look I caught glimpses of when she used to flirt with me back when she first moved in. The look I received the night I brought her home drunk and the first time we made love and every other time since then. She was feeling frisky and that look made me instantly excited and eager to help the lady out.

Abby didn't need to ask me a thing. After her stressful day, Abby deserved some extra attention. My lips went straight to hers and my hands went to work.

*****

Abby looked up at me and beamed. She was so proud of her work. Abby and Alice Cullen had been working on the outside decorations for most of the morning getting it ready for the late afternoon wedding.

"Do you like it?" Abby asked shyly.

"It's awesome! Nice job honey," I said and reached down for a kiss.

"Thanks, I had some help," she replied and gestured to the crew that scrambled around behind her. Alice stood next to her in a flash and put her arm around Abby's shoulder.

"Don't be so modest. This whole amazing design was your idea, I just helped string up the lights and candles," Alice said proudly and then looked up at me. "I'm going to have to steal her for my next party!" Alice quickly dashed back to work on the finishing touches before Abby had a chance to blush from her comment. I chuckled as I studied all the decorations while Abby described what she had done.

The wedding ceremony was being held just inside the tree line near the beach where there was a large clearing. There would be enough shading during the ceremony to block any light from the setting sun, helping the vampire guests keep their sparkly secret. White chairs were set up perfectly and the ones along the aisle each had white roses dripping (Abby's word, not mine) to the ground. There was a wide enough aisle between the chairs for the bride and wedding party to walk down.

At the end of the aisle lights were wrapped around two trees that made a natural arch where the bride and groom would say their vows. There were more flowers that seemed to weave in and around the trees with a little bit of greenery that made it pop (another one of Abby's words).

Closing in around the guests were hanging candles that reminded me of the floating candles in the dining room at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies. The candles were inside glass so the wind from the beach wouldn't blow them out.

"How many candles are there?" I asked in awe.

"About seventy-five, plus the ones over by the arch," she pointed to another cluster of candles I hadn't noticed.

"It's going to take you forever to light all those, you know," I teased and pulled her into a hug.

Abby looked back at the vampire work crew who were climbing trees and lifting heavy objects with ease. "They're pretty fast," Abby said with wide eyes. She had talked the whole Cullen coven, minus Nessie and Bella who were in the wedding party, into helping her. Emmett and Jasper were in the trees securing the lights. Esme and Carlisle were finishing up the chair decorations. Edward and Alice were working on the huge candle display near the arch. Rosalie was sitting on one of the chairs inspecting her nails. Apparently Abby couldn't sweet-talk _all_ of the Cullens.

"Are you taking advantage of their super strength and speed?" I asked.

"Yes, yes I am. Now I may have time for a little one-on-one with you before people start to arrive," Abby said with a sultry tone to her voice and the look.

Instant snickers and cat-calls came from the vampire work-crew. Abby blushed and tried to hide her face in my chest.

"You forgot, they also have super hearing," I laughed.

"And Edward's super mind reading!" Emmett hollered from his perch in the trees. Abby groaned and shook her head in my chest.

"Come on, let's go check in on the bride," I laughed and pulled Abby away from her embarrassment.

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**That's about all the Cullen you're gonna get out of me. And if you haven't noticed, Bella and Leah are pretty close now…now that they are step-sisters.**

**Let me know what you think of the little conflict I threw in there.**

**As you may know, I'm writing about Quil and Claire. I haven't read any stories about them yet, so let me know if there's something that has been overdone that you don't want to hear about anymore! I have an idea of where I'm going, but I want to make most people happy too! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer – Wolves are not mine (I want one though). They belong to S. Meyer.**

Chapter 18.

Leah Clearwater was not one to get all dressed up and girly. Her wedding day was, apparently, an exception.

I conjured up my best wolf-whistle, pun totally intended, as I sauntered into the tented area near the beach where the bride-to-be and the Den Mothers were gathered primping for the wedding. Abby left my side, with a quick kiss, to duck behind a divider in the tent to change out of her work clothes.

"Oh shut up," Leah smirked and smacked my leg when I walked by her. She was sitting in front of a huge mirror while Tala messed with her hair. Nessie was crouched down by Leah's feet painting Leah's toenails.

"She looks gorgeous, doesn't she?" Tala asked me with a big smile.

"Aunt Leah's hot!" Nessie chimes in from her toe painting.

"Oh! That's Leah?" I said sarcastically.

"Go away!" Leah chuckled and swatted at me again.

"I'm just not used to you all dressed up…in a dress," I teased as I pulled at the sleeves of my tux jacket. Leah picked out something casual for the men, but we still had to wear the jacket. At least we didn't have to wear a tie or socks and shoes.

"You've seen me in a dress before," Leah replied, but then gave me a look like she wasn't quite sure when the last time she wore a dress was.

"Are you freakin' out? Worried that Allen won't be at the end of the aisle?" I continued to taunt her.

"Embry!" Tala scolded me with a slight upturn to her mouth. "Leave her alone."

"If I didn't think Nessie would be pissed about messing up my dress, I would kick your ass right now," Leah spat back. "Why are you here?"

I bent down and kissed her cheek. "Oh, you know I'm just messing with ya. Allen would be a fool to run away from all that hotness," I said as I gestured towards her. I think I actually saw Leah blush.

"Speaking of hotness," Nessie said and I followed her gaze to find Abby coming out from behind a divider with a new dress on. It was a friggin' sweet dress. It was a light color green, low cut, showed just the right amount of cleavage, and fit every possible curve on her body.

Abby didn't see me at first, but when she finally looked up after putting on her shoes, she totally caught me gawking at her. Whatever look I had on my face made her blush.

"Oh look, the perverted peeping Tom is back," I heard Leah say behind me. Nessie and Tala giggled. I ignored them and made a beeline to Abby.

"You look amazing," I told Abby as I leaned down to kiss her and grabbed her around the waist pulling her close to me. I dropped my voice and mumbled into her ear. "You gonna wear that _all_ night?"

Abby backed her face away from mine and quirked an eyebrow. "You want me to?" She asked. I quickly and enthusiastically nodded my head which made her giggle and blush.

All of a sudden the tent was filled with wolves and vampires. Every one of them had a panicked look on their face. Everyone started to huddle together and I received quite a few quick glances my way. _What the hell did I miss?_ I quickly made my way to the huddle dragging Abby along with me.

"What going on?" I heard Abby wonder out loud. I shrugged.

Sam saw Abby and I approaching the group and shushed everyone. "Abby, would you mind going to see if Emily needs help with the kids? Vanessa was asking for you," Sam gave Abby a small smile.

"Sure," Abby replied and gave me a worried look. I smiled back and nodded in encouragement. I was nervous to let Abby out of my sight, but from the look on everyone's face, I wasn't sure I wanted Abby to hear what was going on.

"What did I miss?" I asked when Abby was out of ear shot.

"Collin just caught the scent of our leech," Sam answered as the rest of the group started to strategize.

"What!?" Leah screeched. "No! Not today! All I want to do is get married and get away from all of this. Why does it have to be today? I'm _not_ bursting into a wolf today!" Bella instantly ran over to Leah and pulled her away from the group. Whatever she said to Leah seemed to calm her down.

Before Sam could speak up to give his orders, Dr. Carlisle Cullen addressed him. "I'll take my boys and meet up with the other wolves to figure out what's going on. We don't need this to ruin Leah's day. She needs all of you here for her and not out there worrying what's happening to you."

Sam seemed to think it over and agreed. I could see Leah in the corner sigh with relief. The wedding was supposed to start in the next twenty minutes and there was no way we would be back and dressed in time for the ceremony to begin.

After quick good-byes to their mates, Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper and Edward took off into the woods to do the wolves' dirty work. We all seemed relieved and annoyed at the same time. Relieved that we didn't have to deal with a filthy bloodsucker on Leah's important day. Annoyed because it took a bunch of bloodsuckers to do the job for us, even though they were our friends.

"What about the guitar?" Leah asked once the guys were gone. Edward was supposed to play the guitar as Nessie sang when Leah walked down the aisle. "What if he's not back in time?"

I saw Bella glance over to Rosalie who was staked out in the corner. Rosalie let out a big sigh and said, "I'll do it." I could tell she was trying to be polite and not roll her eyes. I knew damn well Rosalie was only there because the rest of her family was. She and Leah were not the best of friends.

"Well thanks so much," Leah muttered sarcastically. Rosalie shot her a quick glare before huffing out of the tent which made Bella and Nessie giggle.

Tala and Emily ushered the men out of the tent so that they could finish getting ready. The atmosphere seemed to lighten once the imprints knew the wolves weren't leaving the festivities, at least for now.

Sam ordered us to all check out the perimeter of the area where the ceremony would be taking place in the woods and the area around the beach. I made sure I kept an eye on Abby at all times. I assigned myself the area around the tent so that I could be closer to Abby. I knew that damn leech wanted her and there was no way in hell I was going to let him have my Abby.

******

Right before the ceremony started each wolf found his place, but still scanned the surroundings and sat at attention. I stood up front in line right behind Jake, Seth, Allen and Allen's brother Carl. Man, I thought Allen was nerdy. His brother was even worse. Nice guy, but wow, really? Who needs that much styling product in their hair?

Once the guitar music started I looked up and found that Edward was playing. I didn't even see him slip in. I looked back into the audience and saw the other three male Cullens next to their mates. Apparently everything was fine or they wouldn't be back. Right? I quickly glanced over to Abby in the second row to make sure she was safe and sound. Abby caught me looking and smiled back.

The wedding procession started and each and every Den Mother, plus Claire, Nessie and Bella, made their way down the aisle. The wedding party was pretty lopsided. Did Allen not have any friends?

Nessie started singing and the crowd became extra quiet. Her voice kind of did that to you. It was very angelic and peaceful. She was a good person if you needed a peaceful lullaby to fall asleep to. Not that it was boring by all means…just very soothing. Luckily Leah picked a song for Nessie that wasn't too slow and dramatic.

Nessie's singing was Vanessa's cue to start down the white-paper-covered aisle dropping petals. Vanessa in all her girly-girl glory, with her soft pink frilly dress and ringlets in her hair, stopped to pose for each and every camera, smiling sweetly. I chuckled when I saw Tala discreetly try to hurry Vanessa along to her place in line.

Leah came into everyone's view and the audience stood up. There were oohs and ahhs from everyone and I actually could see Leah blushing. She locked eyes with Allen and smiled. I could see her tense shoulders relax tremendously. She was beautiful. I looked over to Abby in the audience and she had her eyes locked on me. I gave her a big cheesy smile as the ceremony started.

*****

The wolf pack and the Cullen males discreetly made their way from the crowd of wedding guests waiting in line for the dinner buffet to discuss what happened in the woods before the ceremony began.

"Everything we noticed out there fell in line with your description," Carlisle addressed Sam. The rest of the group scanned the crowd and the surrounding areas but we were listening. "We lost his scent near Lake Ozette and then found it again two miles north of the lake."

Carlisle and Sam compared more observations while the rest of us waited for a plan to form. My eyes kept flickering over to Abby and I never let her out of my sight for a minute. I was too worried knowing she was the target of the leech we've been tracking. It was killing me being only this far from her.

"His name is Alejandro. He's from Spain," Edward said in a quiet voice next to me. I slowly shifted my gaze from Abby to look at him.

"What?" I glared, having no idea what he was talking about.

"The _leech_ you've been tracking. That's his name," he said, emphasizing the word leech. The Cullens didn't care for the derogatory words we came up with for other vampires. I said it in my head. Not out loud. It was his fault he could read my mind.

"I don't give a shit what his name is," I snarled back. My voice softened when I glanced back towards Abby. "Do you really think Abby's his singer?" Maybe we were mistaken.

"Even though we didn't find him, we were close enough that I heard him. Her face and her scent were in his thoughts constantly until we lost him," Edward said as he appraised my temper. My jaw clenched trying to control my rage. "He's not going to stop until he finds her. You have to be careful. He's so obsessed he won't care who's around. Leah's the only thing that stopped him before. He doesn't seem scared by the wolves anymore."

A low growl started to form in my chest. There was no way I was going to stand around and wait for this bloodsucker to appear. I was going to hunt it down. "I'll kill him before he makes it anywhere near her."

I looked up to see the entire group looking at me. Sam could tell by the look on my face and my menacing growl what I wanted to do. Sam gave me a warning glance before speaking up. "Not tonight. Let Leah have her day. We can go out tomorrow."

I looked over to Abby. I could tell she was enjoying herself and I didn't want to ruin that for her. I didn't want her to worry about me all night. I glanced over to Leah as she embraced and kissed her new husband. I couldn't ruin her evening either by making her brothers leave the party. I looked at Edward and silently asked, _is it safe until tomorrow?"_ Edward gave me a small nod. I looked back at Sam and nodded my head in agreement.

Tomorrow we would hunt down this _Alejandro_.

*******

**There were a couple of you excited for the wedding. I described it a little, but this is a man's POV…they usually don't give a crap about the details. I can totally picture it in my head and it's gorgeous…trust me.**

**If anyone can guess correctly as to where I came up with the vampire's name, I will post the next chapter earlier than usual. I do look at my reader's profile and there may be one or two of you who should be able to get it right. Try it…oh yeah, and review please!!**


	19. Chapter 19

**I didn't think my little guessing game would be so easy. Yes, I named the vampire after Lady GaGa's song from her Fame Monster CD. I like saying Alejandro too...say it with me, _Alejandro. _It just sounds kind of sexy doesn't it? ****Lucky for you guys! Here's another chapter.**

**I'm nervous about this chapter...I hope I don't get "hate" comments.**

**Enjoy.**

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Chapter 19

"Are you hung over again?" I mumbled into Abby's neck. It was the Sunday morning after the wedding and reception. I had been awake for several minutes but not wanting to leave the bed yet because of the women beside me. Her back was pressed up to my chest in the spooning position. My arms were wrapped around her front where my hands explored just a little.

"No," Abby mumbled and squirmed a little from my touch. She was slowly waking up. "Tired."

"You were quite the dancer out there last night," I told her. "I was wondering if you had too much to drink." Abby wasn't the best dancer, but she was entertaining to watch. I ran my thumb down her side tickling her ribs. She squirmed a little more and giggled as she batted my hand away.

"Are you saying that it looks like I'm drunk when I dance?" She flipped her body around so that she faced me and mocked a wounded look. When my hand wouldn't stop tickling her she grabbed it.

"I wouldn't send you to an audition for a rap video," I teased.

"What about you? When we slow danced all you did was wobble us around in a circle," she replied. It was true. I could not dance either. It was my turn to fake a hurt look.

I pulled Abby closer to my body anxious to leave her for the day. We originally planned on having a lazy Sunday before starting out the stressful week. Craig's court date was set for Tuesday and although Abby didn't need to attend, she was eager to find out the results. She wanted to know if he was going to jail for violating the No Contact Order. She especially wanted to know if he would finally grant her a divorce. I wanted to stay with her and give her a good day. Instead, I was going to leave her to hunt down and kill the bloodsucker that was hunting her.

"Abby, I've gotta take care of some stuff today," I said with regret. She looked up at me slightly disappointed with a hint of worry on her face. "I'm sorry, but something came up and we just need to take care of it."

Abby cuddled into my chest and said, "ok."

"Do you think you could go to Tala's?" I asked. "I don't want you to be alone."

"Yeah. Leah's opening her wedding gifts there. They asked me to come, but I thought we were doing something," I could hear the disappointment in her voice.

I lifted her chin up to look in her eyes. "I'll make it up to you." Abby smiled in return and pulled up to kiss me.

"Is it the vampire?" she asked quietly once she broke off the kiss. She had a fearful look in her eye, but I knew I had to be honest with her. But not honest enough to let her know why the leech was sticking around.

"Yes." I nodded.

"You're gonna kill him." It was a statement, not a question. She knew how I and the rest of the pack wanted him out of the picture.

"Yes."

Abby let out a sigh and slowly nodded her head. I could tell she wasn't happy about it, but I knew she had accepted it.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"Scared? You'll be fine. Ness and Bella will probably be at Tala's too and they're just as strong as me…"

"No, I'm scared for you," Abby interrupted.

I tried not to chuckle at the absurdity of her concerns. "I'll be fine. There will be six against one…so easy!"

"The other one hurt you!" Abby argued back.

"She came out of nowhere and I was by myself. It was just a broken arm. I've had worse," I replied.

Abby sighed again and gripped her arms around me as if she wasn't going to let me go.

"When are you leaving?" she asked as she started to rub circles on my shoulders while she kissed my chest. I had a feeling I knew why she was asking.

I looked up at the clock and saw that I had at least an hour before I had to leave. "I've got time," I smiled. Abby looked up to my face and her cheeks were slightly blushed.

"Time for what?" she smirked, trying to act innocent and then her face turned into "the look."

*******

Seth and I slid into my car after I dropped off Abby, safe and sound, at the Clearwater's home. Leah had just started opening up her mound of gifts from the night before. There were all sorts of breakfast items on display I had never heard before. Actually, Esme called it brunch. The food made me drool like the dog that I am and I ended up sneaking some out of the house while Tala shooed me away.

I felt a lot better knowing that not only were Bella and Nessie there, as I assumed, but also Alice and Esme. Those two female vampires seemed sweet and innocent, but I've been in a battle with them and they were far from dainty when the need called for it. I felt confident the three-and-a-half vampires would protect the Den Mothers and my Abby.

Tala ran out of the house holding a trash bag and waving to get our attention. I stopped the car and Seth rolled down the window.

"I almost forgot. Can you please drop these off at the tux shop?" she asked. "You're going to Port Angeles, right? I told Allen I would have you take his back. Seth, yours is in there too."

Seth looked in my direction for confirmation and we both nodded. He knew I was eager to get this bloodsucker situation taken care of.

"Yeah, I forgot my tux at home. We'll have to swing back and get it," I grunted. Going back to my house was out of the way and would delay this problem even longer. Seth and I planned on heading to Port Angeles to see if the bloodsucker had been there since his last encounter with Abby and Leah.

"Please be careful guys," Tala said one more time and leaned down to kiss Seth. "Love you."

Driving down the secluded stretch of road away from the Clearwater's, I noticed Collin and Brady running through the woods in their wolf form. They were on "babysitting" duty, as they called it. Since they were two of the wolves on the bottom of the totem pole, they were usually assigned the easy tasks. They usually complained about not seeing any action and always having to watch over the imprints.

Collin and Brady had never killed a vampire before. When we had the battle with the newborns several years ago, Collin and Brady had not gone through the transition yet. They were only pups when the Volturi came all the way from Italy to kill Nessie and her family. Luckily, that battle never started. The pack wanted to shelter the younger wolves from ever having to kill something, even if it was a filthy bloodsucker.

I hung my head out the car window and taunted the two younger wolves with a yip. I gave them an enthusiastic wave. They both howled and lifted their legs in our silent "piss off" gesture. Seth was on the phone informing Sam of our detour.

As soon as I pulled up to my property I noticed the goddamned red Corvette.

"What the hell is he doing here!?" I growled. My body started to tremble. I was pissed off at the balls this guy had, but thankful that Abby wasn't home. How many monsters did I need to protect her from?

"Should I call Sam back?" Seth asked me, obviously worried about what I may do to Craig.

"No, I'm cool," I replied. I've had enough of this asshole, but I knew I would be able to control myself better because Abby wasn't around.

Seth and I scurried out of the car and approached the house. Craig was not in his car. Both of our ears perked up when we heard a commotion towards the back of the house. When we ran back we saw Craig peeking in the back door.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing here?" I snarled and started to approach him, planning on roughing him up a bit. I wanted him to actually be scared of me so he would leave Abby alone.

Once he eyed us, Craig held up a gun. I stopped short and heard a "whoa" come from Seth behind me.

"Where's Abigail?!" Craig demanded. He looked like a monster. The way his face was contorted with rage and his eyes looked icy like he was far beyond reason.

"Far away from here," I said through my teeth. My body shook with anger. I was furious with the way he spoke her name. I was livid because he came here with a gun with all obvious intentions of hurting her or me…or both.

"Let's put down the gun, dude. We don't need any of that," Seth tried to reason with Craig.

"I'm not letting you take her away from me!" he yelled at me. "She's mine! I'm not going jail because of her!"

His thoughts were all over the place. I couldn't tell if he was there to seek revenge by killing me or if he wanted to hurt Abby or kidnap her.

"No, she's mine!" I said possessively. If Abby ever heard me say that I would probably be in trouble. I could hear Seth slowly approach me and that's when I noticed that the tremors vibrating through my body were about to let the wolf loose.

I heard the soft, silky voice a second before I smelled the sweet stench.

"No, she's mine," the pale, dark-haired leech calmly said. He appeared out of nowhere and stood next to Craig within arm's length. By the sound of his Spanish accent, I presumed it was Alejandro. The vampire we were looking for. Just my luck.

Craig snapped his head to the right, startled by the newcomer to our confrontation, just as I phased into a wolf. Craig looked back at me in shock, clearly not knowing what the hell was going on. There was a creepy dude to his right with red eyes smiling at him and a huge wolf to his left snarling at him. I'm sure he couldn't tell who the threat was.

"Back away! I don't know who you are, but I'm not here for you!" Craig said to the leech as his arm holding the gun swung back and forth between me and Alejandro.

"Craig, don't do anything stupid. Put the gun down…you don't want to mess with him," Seth said, referring to the vampire. "Just put it down and back off!" I could hear the panic in Seth's voice. As much as we hated Craig we were not going to allow him to be eaten by the Spanish bloodsucker.

I continued to face the two threats to Abby, not knowing what situation to take care of first. Alejandro was too close to Craig for me pounce on him without being shot by Craig. If I pounced on Craig to take care of the gun, I would either get shot or grabbed by the leech. Seth was behind me so I couldn't see his movement and he wasn't in wolf form to conjure up a silent plan in our heads.

It was a waiting game.

Freaky Alejandro drew in a long sniff of air; his eyes rolled back into his head, and said in his creepy Spanish accent, "I can smell her. It's fresh on you," he glanced in my direction and sneered. "You've been with her recently. My sweet Abigail. I will have to follow your trail back to her."

The low snarl in my chest quickly built up to a thunderous growl from the threat. Seth also responded to the threat and quickly phased. Craig jumped back closer to the house in complete shock from witnessing Seth's change. His breathing picked up and he looked confused. He was starting to panic.

Craig pointed the gun to Alejandro again. "No! You can't have her either. She's mine," Craig said as I saw his grip tense around the gun.

"_Not smart Craig. Put it down," _Seth instructed even though Craig couldn't hear him. I could see Seth's plan run through his head once Craig put down the gun. It was the same as mine. With the gun pointing at the leech, Seth would take down the bloodsucker and I would knock Craig to the ground out of harm's way.

Craig was an idiot. He squeezed the trigger and tried to put a round in the vampire's chest. The sound of the gun made Seth and I flinch. Of course each bullet bounced off Alejandro and fell to the ground. Craig's face became just as pale as the leech's and he finally dropped the gun.

In an instant before Seth and I could react and follow through with our plan, Alejandro grabbed Craig and sunk his teeth into Craig's neck.

"_Dammit!"_ I winced from the sight. I hadn't actually seen that happen before.

"_Now!" _Seth directed. We both pounced forward. Seth landed on the leech and I knocked down Craig, ripping him out of Alejandro's grip.

Craig was bleeding uncontrollably out of the bite marks on his neck. But it was more than a bite mark. It was a large, gaping gash showing all the tendons and muscles and veins. There wasn't anything I could do. I stood there over top looking down at him frozen in shock. I had never I seen a human victim from a vampire before, but I knew what was happening. Because the leech didn't drain him, there was enough blood in his system for his heart to pump the venom through. As long as his heart kept beating, Craig was changing. Changing into a vampire.

"_Kill him!"_ I heard Sam's voice growl in my mind. I wasn't sure if Sam was talking to me or Seth who was currently battling it out with Alejandro. Sam and several other wolves had phased and were taking in the scene and running in our direction.

Craig writhed underneath me in pain and screamed profanities as my paws kept him pinned down.

"_Embry, now. It's too late for him. You've got to put him out of his misery. He can't change!" _Sam ordered, but not in his alpha voice. I knew he didn't want to force me to kill someone.

"_He's already dead! Seth needs your help." _Sam's voice sounded alarmed. I glanced back in Seth's direction and noticed he was limping with a trail of blood following him as he circled around the bloodsucker.

"_Jesus Sam!"_ My breathing picked up. I was at a loss for what to do. I thought about Edward and how he saved Bella from a vampire bite by sucking out the venom. I thought about Nessie and how she stopped the venom from taking over Tala's body when Tala was bitten.

"_We're almost there, but there's too much blood Embry. Edward's with me. He says Craig will die from the blood loss if they try to suck out the venom anyway."_ Sam informed me calmly. _"We won't be able to get him to the hospital in time. He's gonna change."_

I was about to ask that someone else do it. I couldn't end a part of Abby's life, even if he did take advantage of her and was a complete jerk. Even though he came to my home with a gun and obvious bad intentions. But then Craig looked up at me. He gasped for air and clawed at the ground below him. I could see the pain in his eyes while he pleaded with me.

"Please help. The fire. It hurts. Please kill me," Craig wheezed out in a choppy sentence. That's all it took. I didn't do it in anger. I didn't do it out of pity. I did it because I would have wanted someone to do it for me. Even though I'm sure Craig didn't know he was turning into a vampire, he was still scared and pleaded with me for help.

With one swipe of my paw, I stopped his heart.

* * *

**So…what do you think!? Let me know please! **

**I originally had Seth and Embry running back to the imprints after Alejandro bit Craig, because they knew he was on his way to Abby after he was done there. And they knew there was nothing they could do to save Craig. But I decided there was NO WAY they would run. They are big, strong, brave wolves and they would stay and fight! And I didn't like the thought that Alejandro would possibly leave Craig there to turn into a vampire. Who the hell would want Craig as a vampire? **

**I'm on chapter 4 of the Quil and Claire story. I'm still working on a title. And no, Claire is not a whiney bitch of a teenager either. Maybe a tad immature, but please…she's fifteen. That's expected (sorry if you're one of my readers and you're fifteen…and btw, you shouldn't be reading this if you are missy! It's rated M).**


	20. Chapter 20

**Wow. I did not expect the reaction I received from the last chapter. I thought for sure someone would be pissed I had Embry kill Craig. I wasn't totally comfortable with it. Man…you guys really didn't like Craig, did you? **

**There's some "Spanish" in this chapter…since Alejandro is from Spain (duh), but I'm not good with Spanish, especially Spain – Spanish (weird, the more I type the word Spain and Spanish, the more they don't look like words. HA!). Feel free to correct my horrible interpretation.**

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Chapter 20

I didn't know how I was going to tell Abby that her husband, her estranged husband, was dead. Attacked by a vampire. Killed by me. Even though he was a horrible human being, I knew she would be upset by the news. I hated the idea of upsetting Abby. Plus, no one deserved to die that way.

I cringed at the thought of not being able to save him. That's what we were born to do, so to lose somebody we knew to a leech was a blow to our protector ego. Knowing I was the one that stopped his heart from beating made it even worse. There was a tiny part of me that seemed relieved that Craig was out of the picture and even a smaller part of me that felt guilty about thinking that.

"_Sorry Craig," _I thought looking down at his body watching the blood flow start to slow down from his neck. I could hear that his heart had stopped.

A yelp from Seth brought me back to reality. Seth was down on the ground with the leech approaching him, getting ready to attack.

"_We'll be there in ten seconds!" _I heard Sam's voice in my head.

I let out a menacing growl and got down in a crouch which made Alejandro stopped his attack on Seth. I could see that Seth gave out just as much damage as he had received. Maybe even more. The leech was missing a chunk out of his shoulder and part of his scalp.

Alejandro looked up at me with a sneer and actually laughed. "I think I'll go fetch the sangre jugosa de hermosa Abigail," the leech smiled and jumped out of sight before I could catch him.

I struggled with what to do. I knew Seth was hurt, but I needed to get to Abby before the leech did.

"_I'm fine. Go," _Seth insisted. I was relieved to hear his voice and I could tell by tuning into his mind and feeling his injuries that he was going to be ok.

"_We're here," _Sam said right before I bolted by them back into the woods. The Cullen men were with them. Everyone but Dr. Carlisle and Jared followed after me per Sam's direction.

"_Brady and Collin, the leech is coming your way!" _Sam warned.

"_He jumped. Keep an eye in the sky," _I added.

"_Where the hell did the bastard come from?" _Quil asked. I watched as he replayed the scene the rest of the pack witnessed from my eyes.

"_I don't know. If he is a long-distance jumper, my only idea is that he came from the beach. Maybe swam in and jumped from there?"_ I explained and ran the vision of my idea through the others' heads. My house was less than two miles from the ocean. If Alejandro could jump Lake Ozette, he could easily make his way to my house from the beach in one leap.

"_The lady leeches inside the house have been notified," _Collin informed us from the Clearwater's yard.

"_As if we'll need back-up," _Brady scoffed. I could feel the eagerness and excitement between the two of them. They were keyed up for a fight.

"_Don't get cocky. All the imprints are in there. Do NOT let the bloodsucker get in that house! I don't care if the lady Cullens are in there." _Sam growled in his Alpha voice. I felt the weight of the Alpha command press into Collin and Brady.

Everyone had quiet thoughts as they waited for updates. The wolves and the vampires on the way to the Clearwater house spread out. We ran silently, the only sounds were our giant paws hitting the surface of the forest.

According to Collin's thoughts every female vampire attending the party surrounded the outside of the Clearwater home, circling it like armor, not willing to let anything past to get to the vulnerable people inside.

Only three minutes had gone by since I bolted from the bloody scene and there was no sign of the leech. Everyone waited for him. There was no way he would get passed that many protectors.

I could see Jared on the scene of my house nudge Craig's body while Dr. Cullen helped Seth.

"_Leave him. We'll deal with that mess later."_ Sam sighed to Jared. I heard him run through what we needed to do regarding Craig and how we would explain it to the police. It was a good thing Charlie Swan was on the force. He didn't ask too many questions when we were involved.

I heard the excited thoughts of Collin and Brady. Their ears perked up and their eyes scanned the area.

"_He's here!" _Brady said. His mind revealed that his body started to pump up with pure adrenaline. Although he didn't see the leech, he could smell him and sense his presence.

"_Stay calm guys! They're on their way," _Sam ordered Collin and Brady before quietly going over strategies for the fight.

Collin saw Alejandro first. He crouched down to get ready to pounce as the leech approached him. Brady came up towards the back of the leech. Both wolves started to close in on him, pushing Alejandro towards the other wolf.

Old Ally there didn't look the least bit scared. His face was calm and impassive. It looked as though he was considering the pickle he had gotten himself into. Little did he know what we wolves could do.

Our pack and the three male Cullens got to the house just as the leech was about to jump. Within a matter of milliseconds the vampire crouched down, but each wolf noticed his intentions and at the same and said, _"he's gonna jump!"_

Luckily we think faster than we verbalize.

Brady grabbed the leech's leg, catching him in mid-air, and slammed his body back to the ground. Collin didn't take any time tearing into poor old Alejandro.

Before I could make my way to the two wolves to join in on shredding up the last threat to Abby's life, Quil stopped me. _"They've got it under control Embry. Go to her."_

My thoughts instantly focused on Abby. I needed to make sure she was safe. I phased back to human and slowly walked up to the house. I had to tell Abby about Craig. I didn't know how she would react. I couldn't take her back home where Craig's body laid in the back yard.

The Cullen men were on the porch watching the scene in the yard, apparently not interested in burning their own kind. Someone handed me a pair of pants.

"Dude, there are children in there," Emmett chuckled. I took the pants from him.

"Thanks," I mumbled, offering him a smile. I forgot I was naked, my clothes shredded in my back yard.

I walked into the house and noticed all the shades were drawn, blocking the scene from the people inside. It was totally silent. Everyone looked up to see who was walking through the door.

"Embry," Abby cried my name and ran towards me, throwing her arms around my waist. "Are you ok? Is everyone ok?"

"Yeah, everyone's fine. You're all safe now." I felt the relief in the air and small murmurs started all around me. Immediately several over members of the pack made it through the door and met up with their imprints and children to verify they were safe.

"Come on, let's get out of here," I whispered in Abby's ear and led her to the door.

*****

The sun was starting to set. The colors where the sun met the horizon against the ocean were pretty cool.

"That's really beautiful," Abby whispered. "Why haven't you brought me out here for a romantic evening yet?" She nudged me with her elbow playfully.

"I suck," I chuckled and kissed the top of her hair.

We spent most of the afternoon sitting on the beach, wrapped up in a blanket, and resting against Abby's Beetle. We talked about what happened to Craig. She was very upset, of course. She cried and tried to blame herself, for what, I don't know. She said something about she had once "wished he was out of the picture." It didn't take much to convince her that she was being irrational and that it wasn't her fault.

At first I didn't mention to her that I was the one to put Craig out of his misery. I needed to tell her though. I didn't want to keep secrets from her. The look she gave me when I finally blurted it out made me cringe with shame…even though I had no choice.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. My apology made Abby start to sob all over again. She continued to cling to me so I knew she wasn't appalled by me. I repeated my regret in her ear as I squeezed her tighter until she calmed down.

"I know. You had to. You didn't have a choice," Abby hiccupped. "I just wish it wasn't you." _Me too._

Because I wanted to shelter her as much as possible I didn't want to tell her _why _the vampire continued to hang around or why he headed straight towards the Clearwater's house, knowing it would open up a ton more questions. I left out the part where the creepy leech wanted to eat her.

Abby was snuggled between my legs with her back leaning up against my chest. She had been quiet for a long time so I knew she was thinking over a few issues.

"What are you going to tell the police?" she finally asked.

"I don't know. Sam's going to take care of it. He didn't want me involved unless I have to be," I answered. "I've already done enough." Sam made it clear he would take care of everything. He was going to talk to Charlie and try to come up with some story, although it was going to be hard to explain the situation to Charlie without bringing up the whole vampire issue. We've never had to deal with this situation before. We usually caught the leech before anyone in our territory got hurt.

Abby turned around and climbed up to straddle my lap, rearranging the blanket to keep herself covered.

"Are you ok?" She asked. I could see the concern in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around my neck and put her forehead to mine. I didn't know how to answer. I was freaked out by what I had to do. I was frightened that what the leech did to Craig could have happened to Abby. I worried that Abby would see me in a different way.

"I'm fine, now that you are safe," I replied.

"I wasn't safe before?" she asked with worry on her face. _Shit. I just opened it up for questions._ I tried to recover.

"I was worried about you. Everyone was worried about their families. Most of you were in that house and even though there were several bodyguards surrounding you, we're still going to worry," I tried to explain. "I don't know what I would've done if anything happened to you." My breathing hitched as I tried not to cry. Abby had never seen me cry. No one had ever seen me cry and I wasn't going to let it happen now.

Abby reached up with her thumb and wiped away a stupid tear that pushed its way out and smiled sweetly at me. _Dammit._

"I'm ok," she whispered and then kissed me. "I'll be fine."

We didn't want to go home to the scene of the crime and back to reality. We spent the night on the beach in our own little bubble where I could keep her safe, for one more night, from the upcoming angst she was about to deal with.

********

The local newspaper ran a story about Craig and his unfortunate accident. According to the paper Craig's Corvette went off the side of a small rocky cliff where the car was hidden from the road. He was driving too fast in the rain. Animals found him. He was there for two days before Sam and Emily Uley found him on their way to my home. They found the gun registered in Craig's name in his car. It was speculated that he was on his way to my house to see Abby, his estranged wife. There was no other reason for him to be in La Push near my house. How Sam and the others set up the scene is still a mystery to me. Sam didn't want me to be involved. All the evidence of Craig and the incident was removed from my home.

Abby had a hard time going through Craig's things. Since Craig never signed the divorce paper, everything was left to Abigail. She received insurance money from his death and the car, stocks, and the house. His lawyer tried to fight it, but Abby was happy to pay off his bill so he left her alone after that. Craig didn't have any family to give anything to so she listed an estate sale and sold everything off at a cheap price. After putting the house up for sale it didn't take long to sell, surprisingly. There was a new couple with children who were moving to Forks and the house was perfect for them.

My mom helped Abby with everything. Abby didn't seem to want my help and I constantly asked. She said it was because she didn't feel right asking me to help with her husband's belongings. At first I thought she was trying to hide something from me, but my mom confirmed that Abby went through a lot of different emotions when she cleaned out the house and packed things up. Mom said Abby confessed that she didn't want me to see her like that. She didn't want me to think all her sadness was because she still had feelings for Craig. She was angry and sad and exhausted by the time she came back home to me. I made sure I gave her the space she needed and took care of her the best I could. Whenever I asked her about it she would cuddle up against me and give me "the look" to avoid any uncomfortable conversation. Who was I to pass up a time to be with Abby, especially if it made her feel better for the rest of the evening?

It was two weeks after Abby's old house was sold, six weeks since Craig's death when Abby welcomed me home from work with tears in her eyes and worry in her face. She sat at the dining room table with a large stack of papers in front of her.

"Abby, what's wrong?" I asked as I sat next to her and grabbed her hand. I hated that she had been so sad lately. I hated not knowing what to do for her.

"Why didn't you tell me about the vampire?" she asked quietly and kept her eyes focused on our hands.

"What do you mean? I _did_ tell you about the vampire," I cautiously replied.

"Why didn't you tell me he was after _me_? _My _blood?" Abby's eyes darted up to mine for a second. She tried to pull her hand out of mine, but I squeezed them tightly.

Who the hell would tell her that?! I needed to do some major damage control.

"I didn't want you to worry. I was protecting you from the truth. I didn't want you to live your life scared. I was scared enough for the both of us," I replied honestly.

"Protecting," Abby repeated. Apparently that word stood out more than anything else I said. "That's just it Embry. You're protecting me. You're always protecting me. From Craig, from vampires, from…everything!" She sounded nervous and slightly frantic, but she didn't shout. She didn't sound angry.

"Of course. I want to take care of you," I replied.

"All anyone has ever done is take care of me," she whispered. She finally looked into my eyes and I could see sadness and a little fear flicker in her gaze.

"Embry, I need to go. I need to go away for a little while."

My world shattered from those simple words.

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**Holy Moly! Don't shoot me please. Seriously, did you think I was going to make this whole thing too easy on them?? You know how I can be a pushover on posting…just give me a little sugar (or salt if you didn't like the chapter). I love hearing from you.**

**The Spanish is supposed to translate to something like "the juicy blood of the beautiful Abigail." I'm sure it's not correct…ha!**

**Can you sense that the story is coming to an end?**


	21. Chapter 21

**I didn't get as many angry responses as I thought I would…although only five of you reviewed! I did get a couple signed up for a story alert, so that's good. **

**Thanks for your input bandbabe08sweet, Ashes27, twilightlover427, Angel N Darkness, and laurazuela18. I appreciate it!**

**Maybe this chapter will soften the blow a little**

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Chapter 21

"You're leaving?" I asked quietly after gaping at Abby in shock. She wouldn't look into my eyes.

"Just for a little while," she tried to assure me. She pushed the stack of papers in my direction, but I still stared at her trying to think of something to say to make her stay.

"Why? Where are you going?"

"Embry, I can't do this right now. I need to take care of myself. I went straight from my father taking care of me, to Craig, and then immediately to you. I want to know that I can do things for myself before I commit anything to you," Abby replied. She talked fast like she had been rehearsing her whole speech. She didn't want me to take care of her. That's what I'm supposed to do. Isn't that why we're together?

"Everything just seems to be moving so fast lately. That's what happened before and I'm scared I'm going to lose myself again. I was a totally different person before I married him. I know that may sound cliché, but I need to find myself before I'm able to be with you," she smiled softly. She seemed to be trying to comfort me because of the pained look on my face.

"How long have you been thinking about this?" I asked. I knew she was acting slightly off lately, but I assumed it was from Craig's death and dealing with all the aftermath.

"Since Craig got killed," she mumbled.

"It's because of me. Because I had to kill him," I stated. My chest restricted at the thought of Abby being scared to be with me.

"No! No," she tried to reassure me. "I understand what you had to do." Abby stood up and moved closer to me cautiously. I knew she was worried about me being angry. I wasn't angry, I was numb. I quickly pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her.

"Please Embry. I don't think anything bad of you. I just wish you didn't do it because I knew that's what you would think. You would think I resented you for it, but I don't. It's ok. It's not your fault," she whispered as she hugged my head into her chest and played with my hair. I inhaled Abby's vanilla and cinnamon smell trying to memorize it since I wasn't sure how much time I had with her.

"To be honest," Abby continued, "the whole vampire-hunting-me-down-to-eat-me kind of pushed me over the edge. It's a lot to take in. The danger you have to face. I thought I understood it and was ok with it, but knowing that there are vampires out there that are nothing like the Cullens freaks me out."

"So you want to leave me and go somewhere where you'll be unprotected. Where just anyone or anything can hurt you?" I asked incredulously. "I can't protect you when you're not with me."

"I know it doesn't make any sense, but it seems like here the whole supernatural thing has been an everyday occurrence. I think I need time away from it all."

"No, that doesn't make sense. Bloodsuckers are all over the place. The one that wanted your blood is a rare occurrence, but they're still out there."

"I know," she replied. I wasn't satisfied with that answer, but it sounded like nothing was going to stop her.

We remained in our silent embrace for several minutes. I tried to think of something to say to keep her with me. I tried to think what it would be like without Abby constantly in my life. Without her in my home…our home. I was single for so long and since meeting Abby there was no way I wanted that life back, especially without her. My chest hurt just thinking about it.

"Where will you go? How long?" I finally asked.

Abby pulled away from me slightly to grab the stack of papers on the table that I've been ignoring.

"Sacramento," she said and pointed to the papers. They were acceptance letters. "They have a great education program." _California?_

I looked up at her in shock. "That's like fourteen hours away," I practically whined.

It wouldn't really be easy to go see her on a regular basis. I immediately tried to think of ways and excuses to convince her that I should tag along. Maybe I could move closer to her so the distance between us wouldn't be so long. Maybe I could enroll in school myself. I didn't have a degree and never had an interest in school, but I would do it if I could be with Abby more often.

Abby crawled up in the chair and straddled my lap.

"When I was going through Craig's stuff I found the acceptance letter in the garbage. I applied several months ago thinking he would have a change of heart. He once mentioned moving to the Sacramento area because the housing market was supposed to be better there," Abby tried to explain and then let out a big sigh.

"Embry, I quit school to take care of the mess my parents left me. Craig spent my college money. Now that I have the money back and I have the chance, I want to finish school."

"Two years?" I questioned as I tried to keep my face neutral. I knew she had already completed two years.

"Yeah, and maybe another for a student-teaching job, but I can do that anywhere," she explained.

"I can't come with you?" I couldn't believe how pathetic I sounded. Abby grabbed my face and put her forehead to mine and shook her head.

"I need to do this myself. I'll come home for holidays and you can visit for long weekends." I liked how she said 'home.'

"I promise I'll come back to you for good. I promise. You know nothing will come between this," she said as she gestured her hand between us. Her eyes were pleading with me. She knew she didn't need my permission, but she wanted my blessing.

"I'll miss you," I breathed.

"I know."

The university's semester was scheduled to start up shortly after the New Year. I had just over three weeks before it was time for Abby to leave. I tried to be supportive about her going away to school, but it all came back around with me wanting her to stay for my own selfish reasons. When I tried to keep those feelings in so that I wouldn't make Abby feel guilty, it only made me grouchy. We got into stupid fights but once I realized it was my problem and I was being an asshole I apologized profusely and basically kissed Abby's ass.

The more I thought about what it meant to Abby and how her school plans would make her happy, the more accepting I became of it. When she talked about her class schedule and adding to her portfolio and writing papers and other stuff that sounded boring and painful to me, Abby's face would light up. She actually liked that shit. It was then when I realized that she wasn't leaving me. She wasn't punishing me. It wasn't about me and how much I would miss her. It was about Abby and how it made her happy. Abby would eventually come back. I immediately scheduled several visits on the calendar.

We took some time off work to drive down to Sacramento and look for apartments for Abby. She wanted something small with low rent. I wanted her to get something in a safe neighborhood. Abby finally gave in and settled for a nicer apartment next to campus with a locked gate that required a key swipe to get into the building. It was a short, safe walk to and from campus, so I was happy.

We did some window shopping to check out where she could buy cheap furniture instead of moving things from Washington to California. We were told there was a cute little neighborhood nearby that always had yard sales. We also found an IKEA store.

We walked around campus where I pointed out all the dangerous spots that Abby should avoid. I could tell it annoyed Abby, but she let me do it and occasionally rolled her eyes.

Christmas was kind of bitter sweet. We spent a lot of time with our friends and my family and everyone spoiled Abby since it was her first Christmas with the pack. My mom went overboard with the festivities and gifts. Since Abby is Mom's "new daughter" and she knew Abby didn't have family, Mom didn't hold back. She had Abby helping her with cookies, decorations, shopping, and wrapping gifts.

All the extra attention from friends and family had Abby thinking about backing out on her plan to go to school.

"The selfish bastard in me wants you stay, you know that," I said. We were cuddled in bed after one of the many Christmas parties. "But you'll get spoiled every time you come back home," I teased.

"That's not it," she giggled. "Although I love being spoiled. It's just that I finally get this awesome boyfriend and this huge family and I'm going to leave them. I'm going to miss everyone. I'll be all alone."

"Awesome boyfriend, huh?" I smirked. Abby rolled her eyes. I don't think I've heard her refer to me as her boyfriend before.

"Yeah, you're ok," she shrugged. I poked her in the ribs which made her laugh.

"You've been accepted, you're all enrolled, you have an apartment, so don't back out now. You're going to make a ton of new friends 'cause that's how you are. Don't get my hopes up that you're going to stay when you know you won't," I responded. "It's killing me that you're leaving. I'm going to be a huge mess without you, you know that, right?"

"Hey!" Abby whined. "You said you wouldn't make me feel guilty." She stuck out her lip and gave me a pout. I couldn't resist grabbing it with my teeth.

"Sorry, but it's true. If it makes you happy, then I'm happy. You'll be so busy with school you won't even think of me," I said playfully, hoping she would contradict me.

Abby snorted, "Yeah, right. Our phone bill's going to be huge. We better sigh up for that free minutes family calling plan or something."

Abby let out a huge sigh and said, "I'm gonna miss you," before pulling me towards her for a kiss.

Two days before Abby had to leave Tala had a huge party to show her off. She received gifts to remind her of home and a ton of other stuff I would have to ship to her since she couldn't really take it on the plane. Everyone was there and everyone wanted Abby's attention. It sort of pissed me off that I only had two days left before she was gone and she kept getting dragged away. She has always been quite popular with everyone. I quietly warned everyone they were not to visit or interrupt Abby and me in any way the next day because we planned on spending the entire day together…alone.

"I mean it. I don't want any phone calls or unexpected visits because you forgot to give her something," I growled at Tala. I sat on the floor up against the wall next to Quil. Quil was moping too because Claire started talking about going away to school, following in Abby's footsteps. He still had a few years before he had to deal with that, but he decided to join my pity-party.

"Look at you. You're pathetic with your big puppy dog eyes," Tala teased and reached down to pinch my cheek. "Oh, speaking of that…" she trailed off and looked through the crowd. "Vanessa, go get Abby's present." I watched as V-Bee tore off to her room.

I grabbed Abby's hand as she walked by on her way to the kitchen and pulled her to my lap. She landed in my lap with a grunt and I locked my arms around her.

"I haven't seen you all day," I whined. Quil snickered next to me so I hit him.

"Awe, we'll have all day tomorrow and a couple hours tonight," Abby replied with the look and gave me a kiss that lingered until Quil interrupted us with mock vomiting sounds.

V-Bee scrambled up to us with a poorly wrapped gift for Abby. I could tell she wrapped it herself.

"What's this?" Abby asked her.

"It's for you!" Vanessa said with a huge smile. She was so excited for Abby to open it her body was actually vibrating.

"Thank you sweetie," Abby beamed back at Vanessa. She quickly opened her present so that V-Bee didn't have to wait any longer. It was a stuffed gray wolf with black spots.

Abby actually squealed. "Oh my gosh, where did you find this!?" Her eyes darted back and forth between Vanessa and Tala.

"It's Uncle Embry!" V-Bee said proudly.

"We found it at one of those Build-a-Bear places in the mall when we went shopping in Seattle before Christmas," Tala replied.

"I said the promise and kissed the heart before they sewed him up," V-Bee told Abby. I had no idea what she was talking about, but Abby seemed to because they had a whole conversation about it. I had to admit the thing was pretty cute.

"It's perfect, thank you," Abby hugged V-Bee before she ran off to play with the other kids.

The party wound down shortly after that. The Den Mothers were bawling and made a promise to caravan it out to Sacramento for a girl's weekend. My mom was a wreck too. She tried to weasel in on my first visit I had scheduled to Sacramento, but there was no way that was going to happen.

As soon as we got into the house, Abby pulled me towards the bedroom.

"We're only leaving this room for food and to use the bathroom," she explained as we walked into the room, pulling me towards the bed.

"What about the shower?" I asked and perked my eyebrow.

"Ok, we only leave this room to eat, pee, and shower," she corrected herself.

"Deal," I replied and grabbed her waist and started kissing her.

"Wait. Can you show me the wolf one more time so I can compare?" she asked as she held up the stuffed animal she was still carrying. "I'm gonna miss him."

"Right now?" I complained. She had me all worked up with the whole not-leaving-the-bedroom thing and showering together.

"I told ya, once we get started, we're not leaving this room," her eyes pleaded with me. "Please…you can wait a couple more minutes, right?"

I grunted like a caveman, slung her over my shoulder, and headed out the door.

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**See…that wasn't so bad!**

**It's ending shortly…boo hoo. Only one more chapter and an epi. Please let me know what you think.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello everyone. Sorry this update is late. I kind of forgot about it…you know, when I don't get reviews in my inbox from my many readers (I know you're out there), then I kind of forget that I need to update. Thanks to SweetRia, laurazuleta18, and Angel N Darkness for your reviews. I love you all!**

**This is the last chapter before the epi! I hope you like it.**

Chapter 22.

It's been two months since Abby left for college. Two months of me sulking. I annoyed everyone, including my mother, with my foul mood. I annoyed myself. The best part of each day was when I received my eight o'clock phone call from Abby. Occasionally I received additional short phone calls and texts just because she was thinking of me. After we hung up my mood would drop significantly. I never let her hear the pain in my voice, but I don't think I was fooling her.

My best friend was Flurry the cat. Since I was the only one home, and I was home all the time, I was the only one left he could cuddle up with. Abby decided to leave him home with me since she would be attending her classes most of the time.

I had only visited her twice. Both times I didn't even get to see the city because I refused to let her out of my grip. I made her totally unsocial when I came to town. There was a little part of me that felt guilty when I turned down the idea of hanging out with her new friends. From the sounds of it, Abby had a ton of new friends. I knew she would. Everyone loved her once they met her. Each time I left her to come back home we both became total wrecks. I think I was worse than she was. Abby would try to stay strong, but once she saw my eyes start to well up I would get in trouble for making her cry.

I volunteered to take on more patrol hours to keep my mind off things. But after awhile the other guys started to complain because I would bring down their moods when they listened to all the shit in my head.

Abby was in a different city. It's not like she was dead. That's how I acted though. I can't imagine what would happen if anything did happen to her. I don't think I could continue to live.

I was pathetic.

Everything changed when I received an unexpected call from Abby. She was crying.

"What's wrong?" I started to lose it. I was too far away to take care of anything quickly. That is what I had worried about the entire time she was gone. I wasn't there to help her…to keep her safe.

"Embry, I need you…please," she sniffed.

"What's wrong?" I asked again.

"I promise. I'm fine. Can you just come?" Her voice didn't sound scared. It seemed a little sad.

"Now? Yeah. I'm on my way," I answered as I ran up the stairs and started throwing clothes in a bag. "You're kinda freaking me out here." I heard a quiet laugh between her sniffles so I didn't think it could be too serious.

"Sorry. Can you fly?"

"Plan on it." There was no way I was taking fourteen hours to get to her. A two hour flight would be killer enough.

I made plans with the guys to cover my jobs at the shop. I called Tala to have her check in on Flurry while I was gone. That was a mistake. Tala drilled me for all sorts of information that I did not have. When I couldn't answer her questions she mentioned something about calling Abby herself and figure out what was going on. I told her if she did that and found out anything before I did, I would be pissed. Tala could tell by the tone in my voice that I wasn't joking around.

I called Abby from the airport to tell her what time my flight would arrive. I paid an ass-load of money for a last minute seat and was searched thoroughly by security. Once I got off the plane I called Abby again to let her know approximately when I would make it to her place. Each time we talked she would avoid the reason why she was calling me to her.

After bribing the taxi cab driver to speed it up a little, I finally made it to the gate outside Abby's apartment. I was nervous and scared and eager to see her. It had only been two weeks since my last visit, but that's a friggin' long time to be away from an imprint.

I pushed the buzzer to her apartment. The gate unlocked with an irritating noise. I shoved open the gate and thought to scold Abby for not checking who buzzed at her door before letting them in. Although, I could feel the gravitational pull just from outside the gate. She knew I was there.

Before I could knock on the door it swung open. Abby stood there with a timid look on her face. It was clear she was still crying a little from her red puffy eyes. I stood there for a second and took in the sight of her and smiled back. My memories of her didn't do her justice. She had a certain glow to her that I loved so much.

It seems that I lingered too long because Abby grabbed my shirt and pulled me into the door. Fist she gave me "the look" then pulled my face to hers to kiss me passionately.

"You asked me to come all this way for a booty call?" I asked once she left my mouth for my neck. I didn't mind. I'd spend an ass-load of money on a plane ticket for a booty call.

"Booty call first, then we'll talk," she said in a small voice in my ear.

"Are you sure? You're killing me here," I groaned with frustration, but totally gave in when she lured me to the bedroom.

About an hour later we were still wrapped up underneath the covers on her small bed when she finally spoke. I was absentmindedly rubbing circles around her belly. Abby grabbed my hand to stop the motion and held it pressed to her mid-section.

"I went to the doctor's today," Abby finally said in a tiny voice. I popped up from my reclined position to look her in the eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to stay calm. She called me all this way to tell me she was sick. To tell me something was terribly wrong with her.

"Nothing's _wrong_ with me. I'm fine," her voice cracked a bit and her eyes started to water again.

"Abby, you can tell me. It's going to be alright," I answered. I kissed her cheek and pushed her hair out of her face. My attempts to comfort her only made her cry more.

"God, Abby, what is it?"

"I've been so tired and emotional. I assumed it was from all my school work and being away from you. I didn't really figure it out until a week ago," she explained through ragged breaths. "I'm pregnant!" She finally blurted out and started to weep uncontrollably.

I could feel the smile start to creep over my face. My Abby was going to have my baby. I was going to be a dad. This was the start of the big family Abby and I both wanted. It was perfect. All that time Abby worried about it being her fault that she didn't get pregnant, it was actually _his _fault. Her asshole ex-husband.

But, there I was with a silly grin on my face and Abby sat beside me crying.

"Wait, why are you crying?" I asked in confusion. "Isn't this what you wanted? Aren't you happy?"

Abby sniffled and wiped the tears from her face. She looked up at me and offered a small smile.

"Sorry, I've been crying a lot lately. I can't help it," she replied. "It's just that I thought I knew what I wanted and it turns out I can't have all of it at the same time. It's all getting thrown at me at once. "

"All of what at the same time?" I asked. It seemed she now had everything she's always wanted.

"You and school and now a baby. I moved away from you to go to school. Now I'm going to have a baby. I can't do it by myself."

"Who says you have to do it by yourself?" I looked at her in confusion. Maybe she didn't want me to help her.

Abby gave me a blank look and blinked.

"Embry, I want to finish school. I can't quit again. I'm not ready to move back home," she explained.

"I'll move here. I'll take care of the baby when it comes while you go to school," I stated like it was the simplest idea in the world.

I received another blank look from Abby.

"That is unless you still don't want me to move here with you," I continued, my voice sounded a little hurt. She hadn't asked yet. Maybe she had been ok without me so far, but she did say she couldn't do it on her own.

"You would do that?" she asked carefully. "You would leave your pack and the shop and your friends for me?"

"For you, for the baby, for us…yes," I affirmed. "I practically begged to come with you before. I still want to. That is if you'll have me."

I could see Abby's body relax as her face started to wrinkle up from the next round of tears. But this time she smiled too and pulled me towards her.

"Thank you," she whispered before she kissed me. "I was one pathetic mess without you."

"No, thank you! You can ask anyone back home…I was the one who was a pathetic mess."

"I shouldn't have kept you away. I was stupid."

"You're not stupid. I understand," I assured her. I positioned myself so that my ear was up to her stomach below her belly button. I wanted to see if my super-sonic wolf hearing could pick up any sounds.

"How far along are you?" I asked. "It is mine, right?" I teased. Abby gasped and pushed my head with a giggle. Her giggling made my head bounce on her belly.

"About ten weeks. They couldn't hear the heartbeat yet, but they found him with an ultrasound."

"Him?" I peeked up at her. It was too early to know the sex of the baby I was sure.

"I think it will be a boy. I don't know why. Wanna see the ultrasound?" she asked with a huge smile on her face.

"Yeah!" I nodded frantically and hopped up when she did to grab the movie.

When the crazy black and white image came onto the screen Abby started to cry all over again. I had to admit, even though I had no idea what I was looking at until she pointed out everything, I started to tear up too.

I was too excited. My chest felt like it would burst from the pride I felt. That little shrimp-looking thing on the screen was our baby. I was so happy and honored I could provide the life Abby had always wanted. It was the beginning of, hopefully, a large family and a happy life together.

**Awe, happy ending huh? I'll wrap things up in the epi. **

**Please put me on your Author Alert if you are interested in the Claire/Quil story. I'm all over with that story so far. I'm writing scenes as they come to me in no particular order. All I have to do now is put them in some sort of order. It may take me a bit, but I'll get there.**


	23. Chapter 23

**I am SO sorry! I totally forgot about this poor story. I have plenty of excuses, but none you would be interested in. So FINALLY, here is the epi!**

**Disclaimer – S. Meyer owns the Quiluete wolf pack and the Cullens. We all know that.**

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The Protector

Epilogue

Everyone sat around the bonfire on the beach making a semi-circle with the Tribe Elders filling in the head of the circle. Our close knit pack family has become quite large over the years. Even though the elders have changed, it's basically the same people with a bunch of kids and imprints added in the mix. Sam Uley took Old Quil's spot when Old Quil died several years ago. Billy Black and Sue Clearwater-Swan still head up the meetings. The same legends are told and every time there is a new face in the crowd with eyes full of excitement.

Because the Cullens visit on a regular basis their vampire presence forces the wolf gene to pop out another shapeshifter. Then we have to go through the struggle with the new recruits. But this time around, this generation of wolves are excited for it. They know it's coming. If they have the wolf gene, it's inevitable. We've had the pre-teen boys ask for the Cullens to visit just so they can turn into what their fathers are or once were.

Long are the days where the wolves are a big secret. The knowledge of the wolves is held among the families, which include the imprints. Now, basically, if you are a member of the tribe you know about the wolves. Because really, how would you explain seeing the same people around who haven't aged much? No one would ever tell an outsider, so miraculously our secret does stay hidden to the outside world.

I decided to quit phasing several years ago when my son was born. Plus, I was starting to look way younger than my wife. Abby aged really well, but I could tell it started to upset her. Since I had a son to pass along the wolf gene I decided it was time to quit phasing. I was getting too old for that shit anyway. My body was in fine condition, but the whole running out on regular patrols when we rarely saw a bloodsucker started to get tiresome and old.

So far there haven't been any other female wolves. Leah has been the only exception and we still don't know why. She hasn't phased into a wolf since the day she and Abby had the encounter in the alley with the vampire in Port Angeles. Since she quit phasing she was able to have children which made her extremely happy. She and Abby talk about their little miracles all the time. Abby is still convinced that she was infertile until my super-sperm came into play. I told her she was crazy, but hey, if it makes her think of me as her knight-in-shining-armor, then I'm cool with it.

Tonight, around the bonfire to hear the legend of the third wife and how imprinting came to be, is my fifteen year old son Jonathon, named after Abby's father, and his imprint Katelyn. Fifteen and imprinted…great. At least they are the same age. Soon after he imprinted I sat Jon down for the sex talk. Surprisingly he knew a lot…from his sisters. I made sure to give him my version of the talk anyway, in a man's point of view, since I didn't know what the hell his sisters told him. I was sure I didn't want to know what his sisters told him. That would reveal too much of what they already knew and that's just disturbing to me.

Jon's four sisters are his own little group of den mothers. They are all older and have always treated him like their own little son to take care of.

There is Edith, twenty-one years old, the first born. She was named after Abby's mom. Edith hates her name and insists everyone call her Edie.

Next comes Elizabeth, nineteen, who was named after my mom, of course. She naturally is my mother's favorite, but Mom would never admit to that. Elizabeth is away at college following her mother's footsteps in teaching.

And then there are the twins, Amy and Ann. They are seventeen and gorgeous. I'm not just saying that because I'm their dad either. For Ann, I have to beat the boys off with a stick. She has a new boyfriend every other week. With Amy, it's not a problem…the boys don't come near her because of the huge guy that is always tagging along. Amy is Brady's imprint.

When Brady imprinted on Amy I thought I was going to have a fucking heart attack. That perverted son of a bitch imprinted on my daughter! I would literally burst into a wolf every time I saw them together the first week. And of course it happened as soon as everyone came over to see the twins, fresh from the hospital. I saw that look on Brady's face and kicked him out. Brady was banned from my house for a month. I may have felt a tiny bit guilty over the banishment because I knew how strong the imprint connection was. But it was Brady, and Amy is _my_ daughter. I'm pretty sure Abby let him in the house while I was out. I could always smell a trace of him there.

Even with all the craziness of having five children, Abby did finish her teaching degree and completed her required student teaching. I stayed in the apartment in Sacramento while she did everything she had to do. I got a part time job as a mechanic in a local shop until Edith was born. After that I was a stay-at-home-Dad for a bit. Abby was pregnant during her student teaching and after that we moved back to La Push and had the other three children.

Abby sat next to me next to the fire waiting for the stories to start.

"I like Katelyn," I told Abby. "She reminds me of you. Well, how you used to be."

"Oh yeah? What do you mean?" Abby replied with a quirk of her eyebrow.

"She's an only child and she seems to have that shyness to her. But when she's around Jon she opens up," I tried to explain. "I can see this little personality come out of her every time she's around."

"Are you saying I only have a personality when I'm around you?" she questioned playfully.

"I mean, you used to be shy like that. The more I got to know you the more you opened up and became who you are today. And yes, I would like to think that was because of me," I said proudly.

Abby rolled her eyes and leaned up to kiss me. "You're right. It is because of you. Who knows who I would be or what I would be doing now if it wasn't for you."

Abby is happy. I am happy. The kids are great. Everything is perfect. Except for the Brady part.

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Ta Da! I am sad to say that is the end. Click the review button down there…it only takes a minute…and let me know if you loved it, hated it, expected something else, whatever. I enjoy hearing from everyone.

**I'm slowly working on Quil and Claire. I was thinking about doing Quil's POV AND Claire's POV. How does that sound? Put me on your Author Alert if you are interested in reading it.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**MB**


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